The maker of a dietary supplement was sued on March 19 for allegedly spiking its products to artificially inflate the level of protein.
Richard Ferrari filed the lawsuit against Vital Pharmaceuticals alleging the level of protein it is VPX Stealth Muscle Amplification Lean Mass Gainer is lower than advertised.
The lawsuit alleged the wholesale price of whey protein is continually rising, and profit margins are low. As a result, Vital allegedly adds a cheaper compound such as creatine in order to increase the nitrogen content in the VPX product. A common protein content test uses nitrogen as a “tag” to determine the amount of protein in a product, the lawsuit said.
Adding creatine is known as “protein spiking,” “nitrogen spiking” or amino spiking,” the lawsuit said. Ferrari said the American Herbal Products Association has condemned this practice before.
Ferrari is seeking class status for anyone who purchased the product within the last four years. He is also asking for an unspecified amount of damages plus court costs.
He is represented by Erica C. Mirabella, of Mirabella Law, in Boston, Massachusetts; Tina Wolfson, of Ahdoot & Wolfson, PC, in West Hollywood, California; and Nick Suciu III, of Barbat, Mansour & Suciu, PLLC in Detroit, Michigan.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Suffolk Superior Court Business Litigation Session case number 1:15-cv-10988.