“Do the right thing”: Smith turns up the pressure amid Push Gummies creatine scandal
James Smith has urged Push Gummies to “come off sale immediately” after declaring “check mate” on the brand.
Push was one of several named in the fitness dark knight’s most recent takedown video.
He’s been investigating the creatine gummy market since the start of the year and has already forced Ovrload into a complete relaunch following a damning exposé.
Supplmnt, Gains Nutrition, and Unique Physique all fell short of what was promised on the label during independent testing, according to Smith.
But it was Push Gummies that got the most airtime — and now we know why.
“In my last video, I said I needed 66 days to get legal advice,” he explained in an Instagram post that went live today.
“Some of you might have realised that’s quite a long time. That’s because I lied.
“Not only was I getting legal advice — I was doing something else. And I decided not to put this in the first video incase legal came for me pretty hard.
“I’ve not had any public statement. I’ve not been contacted by any lawyers since my last video. Push are deleting a lot of comments and attempting to hide it all.
“So it’s time to reveal the pocket ace — the biggest bombshell in this scandal.”
While seeking legal advice, Smith also doubled down on his accusations by sending Push Gummies to the same Eurofins lab the brand had used to certify its products.
Push had earlier released a statement declaring that standard creatine tests would “inaccurately show no creatine present” for pectin-based gummies — a claim Smith strongly disputed.
Instead, Push pointed to Eurofins’ modified USP Creatine Monograph as the only accurate method for such products.
That same reasoning was echoed by Supplmnt — another brand under fire — when Gymfluencers contacted them for comment.
Smith said: “In my eyes, if we sent it to their lab, using their tests they claim work, and if I was to get it signed off by the very same person who signed off their testing, surely they would now come back containing creatine, right?”
According to Smith, both the Strawberry and Apple flavours of Push Gummies came back with “not detected” for creatine content using the USP Creatine Monograph.
He claims to have tested the exact same batch (PGL3612) that Push published on its website — though Push’s version of the lab report was partially redacted.
“I think at this point we cannot blame the testing method… How is it the batch you sent to your factory comes back redacted with creatine, and the exact same batch I sent to the same factory, to the same person, came back with no creatine detected?
“You’ll even notice when we sent the gummies, we sent a sealed bag, so we couldn’t have interfered with the batch.”
Smith pointed to another discrepancy between his report and Push’s: the analysis type reads “Consignation Testing” instead of “Sealed Bag.”
“That’s interesting,” he added. “Surely if you were sending your own batch to China it would have gone in a sealed bag like we did.
“Hopefully at this point you’re starting to connect the dots. We now know there’s no creatine in these gummies from their own labs,” he alleged.
In a further twist, Smith shared what he claims is a message trail between himself and Push.
During the exchange, he asked whether Push conducted the testing themselves or relied on the factory.
Rather than sending the gummies to Eurofins directly from New Zealand — where the company is based — Smith says he was told that a third-party agent in China, unrelated to the manufacturer, handles testing.
Push allegedly referred to this as “a matter of logistics.”
“We asked the question, ‘did your factory supplier introduce you to the agent?’, and from there, the DMs start to go cold,” Smith said.
“So they don’t do their own testing. Apparently it’s an agent and they don’t even know where the testing happens, even though it’s on their own documents.
“And as they aren’t doing their own testing, they can’t actually authenticate their own documents.
“It’s starting to sound a lot like Ovrload here, which is crazy because after the Ovrload takedown, you would think that anyone out there that runs a creatine gummy business would double check they’re not fraudulently being misled by their provider.”
Ovrload Déjà Vu
Ovrload was the first brand Smith exposed in his ongoing crusade against the creatine gummy market.
Founder Johnny Lye admitted the company had been let down by a Chinese manufacturer “cutting corners.”
The brand has since established a new supplier in mainland Europe, relaunched with new flavours and testing, and says it’s offering refunds to customers who received duds.
“It’s just crazy to think that Push aren’t doing their own testing, as we can see from their messages,” Smith continued.
“And I’ve always had this suspicion, as soon as I saw the documents were Chinese.
“Is it negligence, or did they just not want to know? Or is it that they’re probably buying these gummies from a manufacturer in China who are giving them these documents?
“And if Push themselves aren’t doing this testing, what local Chinese supplier is providing this to Eurofins, because it’s not their product — they’re providing something else.”
Smith Tells Push Gummies to “Do the Right Thing”
Despite the accusations, the Neutonic co-founder said he doesn’t believe Push Gummies are intentionally trying to dupe customers. Once again, he placed the lion’s share of the blame on the supplier.
He said: “So do we think Push are ripping people off for thousands — or potentially millions — of dollars? In my honest personal opinion I don’t think that’s the case.
“I think they’ve been f**ked up good and proper here by a Chinese supplier, very similar to Ovrload. But there are no excuses for not doing your own testing — especially with the amount of sales you’re making.”
Smith speculated the factory might be leaving out the creatine to make the gummies taste better — boosting repeat orders. But he made it clear that was “purely hypothetical.”
“Now Push, you could do the right thing and come off sale immediately,” he concluded.
“You start doing your own tests and you find a new supplier of a product that actually contains creatine — this is what Ovrload have done.
“But I don’t think Ovrload were completely honest, either, as I don’t think their products ever had creatine in them — like they tried to claim — or they wouldn’t of had to change their entire product line to what is very apparently a brand-new product.
“Or maybe Push will dig in, continue to block people, delete comments, and lie to their customers and athletes. If that’s the case, I’d quite like to see what a court would think of this.
“And I wonder how much the refunds could equate to, and whether or not anyone would face prison time… You have a great brand here, I just hope you can fix this immediately and do the right thing.
“Not by me — but by all the people who bought your product.”
The Takeaway
This latest Push Gummies development takes the saga to new heights. Since launching as a convenient (and very expensive) alternative to creatine powder, the gummies haven’t been without their critics.
Some have argued the heat and moisture involved in making gummies can lead to creatine degrading and losing its potency.
What Smith is alleging, however, is a completely different issue entirely.
This doesn’t appear to be a question of whether the science holds up — or even which testing method is best — but a deeper issue of manufacturers selling sweets as supplements, and brands supposedly failing to do their due diligence.
It’s a story that’s had twists and turns aplenty — and it doesn’t look like it’s ending any time soon.
In his testing, Smith did identify several brands that lived up to their claims.
WellBoost exceeded the advertised creatine content, while Myprotein’s Myvitamins and Known Nutrition — the brand that first called out Ovrload — were not far off being spot on.
There was a small difference between the amount claimed and the amount detected, according to Smith, which he said could be down to testing variability or creatine breaking down into the waste product creatinine.
Gymfluencers has contacted Push Gummies for a statement on the matter. The brand is yet to respond. All Smith’s tests can be found via his YouTube channel.
