Veronvy drew the FDA's lone GLP-1 warning letter aimed at a supplement maker
The FDA has sent one GLP-1-related warning letter to a supplement company, to Veronvy in December 2024, while supplement marketing around these drugs keeps spreading.
The FDA sent its lone warning letter to a supplement company over GLP-1 claims to Veronvy, dated Dec. 10, 2024. The letter covered two products the company sold as "Elily Veronvy" and "Elily Veronvy 40+," which the agency treated as unapproved new drugs under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act because they were "intended to prevent, treat or cure disease conditions and/or affect the structure or function of the body" [1].
By late May 2025, that remained the only such letter, according to SupplySide Supplement Journal [1]. Asa Waldstein, principal of the regulatory firm Supplement Advisory Group, said the tally was striking. "Surprisingly, there has been only one supplement-related GLP-1 warning letter," he said [1]. Waldstein said Veronvy had claimed its products were better than Ozempic, FDA-approved and clinically proven. "It made extreme weight-loss claims and used extreme before-and-after pictures," he said. "All of these are high-risk examples of marketing statements that can trigger not only FDA scrutiny, but also FTC and plaintiff attorney lawsuit attention" [1]. Veronvy did not respond to a request for comment [1].
Larisa Pavlick, regulatory program manager of market integrity at Informa Markets and a former FDA investigator, described two kinds of GLP-1 products entering the supplement market: those meant to nutritionally support people already taking the drugs, and those positioned as mimicking "the pharmaceutical-like effect of those pharmaceutical products." The second kind, she said, is "unfortunately … where we dive into some potential for adulteration" [1]. Weight loss, she added, is among five supplement categories the FDA watches "pretty closely" because adulteration shows up there more often [1].
The supplement interest tracks a fast-growing drug category. A study in Annals of Internal Medicine that reviewed 45 million de-identified medical records found roughly 21,000 U.S. patients were taking GLP-1 drugs to treat overweight or obesity in 2019, rising to 174,000 in 2023 — about a 700% increase across four years [1]. J.P. Morgan Research analysts projected the GLP-1 drug market would pass $100 billion by 2030 [1].
Why the supplement side has drawn so little enforcement is not clear. Marc Ullman, of counsel at the law firm Rivkin Radler LLP, called regulator silence "an age-old problem with supplements" and said the FDA "seems to be taking a fairly relaxed attitude" toward GLP-1 claims "as long as they are properly framed structure-function claims" [1]. He predicted the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection would not be very active under the second Trump administration, saying the agency is "busy going after Microsoft and Apple" [1]. The FTC declined to comment, and the FDA did not directly answer questions for the article [1].
Why it matters for patients
A supplement is not an approved GLP-1 medicine. Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus contain semaglutide; Mounjaro and Zepbound contain tirzepatide. Veronvy's products were handled as unapproved drugs, not as dietary supplements [1].
Consultants drew distinctions among marketing claims. Waldstein said a "GLP-1 agonist" claim probably crosses the compliance line, and that pairing such language with "Nature's Ozempic" or disease-adjacent terms like "helps with nausea" raises the risk [1]. Katie Bond, a partner at Keller and Heckman LLP, said a claim that a supplement boosts the effectiveness of a GLP-1 drug is "a pretty clear no-no," pointing to an FDA rule against it [1]. Theodora McCormick, a shareholder at Baker Donelson, said companies should avoid claims that a product treats diabetes or obesity, which the FDA considers a disease [1].
Waldstein said the FDA tends to weigh how much harm could follow if someone chose a supplement instead of a prescribed medicine. Skipping treatment for depression or heart disease can have "far more severe" consequences than skipping a sleep aid or low-dose aspirin, he said, and because GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic are indicated for diabetes and heart disease, a person who forgoes medical care in search of a natural remedy could face serious health problems [1].
No further letters in this category have been reported, and the agency has not disclosed any plan or timeline for more [1].
Sources
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