Examining the Controversy Surrounding Push Creatine Gummies
Fitness dark knight James Smith has called Push creatine gummies “a massive waste of money” in his latest exposé.
The 36-year-old has accused a host of brands, including Push, of selling “sweets” as supplements and making “falsified claims” to customers about their efficacy.
In a YouTube video dropped today, Smith produced data that he alleges show Gains Nutrition, Unique Physique, Push and Supplmnt all falling short of what’s on the label.
He first threw the issue into the spotlight when he outed UK-based Ovrload for peddling duds at the beginning of the year.
The brand, founded by Johnny Lye, has since apologised, switched suppliers and relaunched with stringent testing protocols.
Lye said he had been let down by a previous manufacturer that cut corners and, despite some batches being genuine, has pledged to refund or send replacements to customers who received defective gummies.
Not long after his initial investigation, Smith said he had evidence of more “very popular brands” conducting the same malpractice.
That investigation was delayed by 66 days as he needed to seek legal advice on the matter.
“Making videos like this comes with legal repercussions,” he said. “I’ve been sued, threatened with legal action — it comes with the territory of calling out BS.
“So I thought I’d just remind some of the businesses that I’ll be mentioning in this video: if you wish to take me to court, fine. I’ll be bringing the Eurofins test with me, and I’ve got stockpiles of your products which I’ll happily bring to court as well.
“Any of you that threaten me with legal or cease and desists, they’re probably going to find their way to my Instagram story pretty fast. So, let the games begin.”
Creatine Gummy Scandal: Who Was Called Out
Smith, who co-founded Neutonic, alleges that Gains Nutrition, Unique Physique and Supplmnt gummies all fell well short of the purported creatine dose in his testing.
The data, which was collected by sending certain flavours of each brand to Eurofins, appears to show they in fact contained between just 1 to 2.5% of the promised figure.
“Now there is some positive news,” Smith added. “There are some companies that are legitimate. That do have the right amount of creatine in their gummies.”
WellBoost exceeded the advertised creatine content in their gummies during Smith’s testing, while Myvitamins and Known Nutrition — the brand that called out Ovrload — were not far off being bang on.
There was a small difference between the amount claimed and the amount detected, Smith maintained, which he explained could be due to testing inaccuracies and creatine breaking down into the waste product creatinine.
Create’s Blue Raspberry flavour missed the mark with 3.25g of creatine where 4.5g was expected, according to Smith.
“Create claim here each gummy contains 1.5g of creatine,” he continued. “Hmm, nearly, just over 1g per gummy. But it’s better than everyone else.”
Push Creatine Gummies Controversy
In the wake of Smith’s last video on the creatine gummy scandal, Push — which operates chiefly in the UK, New Zealand and Australia — released a statement on testing.
It said testing was a “top priority”, and that it checks every batch of Push creatine gummies for both creatine and banned substances.
“For creatine content, we test with the world-leading facility Eurofins,” the post continued.
“Eurofins has developed the modified USP Creatine Monograph test specifically for pectin-based gummies.
“Every batch of Push Gummies has consistently met, or slightly exceeded the intended creatine dose.
“We’re fully transparent with our results and publish each batch’s report on the testing page of our website.
“It’s important to note that standard creatine tests were originally developed for powders and biological tissues.
“These methods aren’t suitable for pectin-based gummies and may inaccurately show no creatine present.”
On that statement, Smith said: “I think and assume that you are trying to deflect allegations here and I’ll explain why.
“First of all, a few of the reports that you put on your website have redacted QR codes. As we saw from the previous video, these forms, when you share them, must be shown in their entirety for them to be valid.
“Not only that, you’re saying that you use a certain way of testing because other tests are inaccurate. But several of the other brands I tested also use pectin, the same thing that you’re saying interferes with the detection of creatine.
“If the testing method is inconsistent, why is it that other brands — with pectin-based gummies the same as your own — showed very clearly and evidently there was creatine in the gummies?
“Why is it that when creatine is in another brand’s pectin gummy we can detect it using our method of testing, but when we tested yours we can’t?”
Smith says he used HPLC testing for Push creatine gummies, while others he has liaised with are using UPLC testing.
“Now I will admit, between our testing and their testing, we both identify relatively small discrepancies in the amount of creatine detected in each gummy,” he continued.
“But it’s clear as day, and consistent across all the data we have, that we can determine very easily whether or not there is creatine inside a gummy, or there isn’t.
“Even if this method of detecting creatine was inaccurate, how do you explain that other pectin gummies show up very clearly, very close to the amount they purport, why yours wouldn’t show any?
“And why consistently across data, it is very apparent there is less than 2% of creatine in a gummy, or nearly 100%? I would agree that between different testing methods, the exact amount of creatine would vary.
“But I completely disagree that a creatine gummy with the right amount of creatine in it would show as none detected.
“So Push Gummies, if you’re watching this, I ask you to publicly explain that to me and everyone else that’s buying your product.”
Smith says his partner, family and friends have all bought Push creatine gummies after being “slammed” with paid ads.
A 30-day supply costs £29 in the UK on a one-time purchase, or $59 in Australia.
The brand claims a three-gummy serving contains 5g of creatine monohydrate — widely recognised as the gold standard daily dose for optimal results.
However, Smith alleges his tests show the Strawberry flavour turned up as less than 2.3% of that promise, while the Apple flavour had less than 2.5%.
Push, Gains Nutrition and Supplmnt have all been contacted for comment. No contact information was available for Unique Physique.
“From my own personal experiences taking creatine gummies, I’ve come to determine one thing,” Smith concluded. “If there is 5g of creatine powder inside the gummies, you can usually taste it and feel the slight grittiness.
“As for these (Push creatine gummies) and a few of the other brands we’ve tasted, that doesn’t taste like creatine. That tastes like a massive waste of money. The most expensive sweets I’ve ever had.”
Smith has posted all the test results — including those for Push creatine gummies — on his YouTube channel.
