James Smith has outed supplement brand Ovrload (founded by Jonny Lye) after tests revealed their creatine gummies contained, well, little to no creatine at all.
The online store, which claims to deliver ‘research-backed’ products, has been accused of selling ‘sweets for supplements’ following tests conducted by James Smith and industry peers, Known Nutrition.
The data released this week has sparked a storm of customer complaints, with some demanding refunds for what they call ‘false advertising’.
Despite recently undergoing surgery, James Smith – often referred to as the Dark Knight of the fitness realm – was drawn into action by what many consider one of the biggest product scandals the industry has seen in a long time.
The gold-standard recommendation for creatine intake is 5g per day. Ovrload states that each 3-4g gummy contains 1.5g of creatine, meaning a daily dose of three to five gummies should provide the optimal dose.
James Smith Outs Supplement Brand Ovrload For Selling ‘Sweets as Creatine Gummies’
Smith’s suspicions were first aroused when he tasted one of Ovrload’s gummies, which, unlike the powdered alternatives, have been praised for their taste and smooth texture.
Speaking on his YouTube expose, he said: “I don’t know about you, the first thing I said when I tried one of these creatine gummies was, ‘there’s no way there’s creatine in that.’
“So, then I thought, if I’m going to make this video and an unlevelled accusation, I’m going to have to send a sealed bag of these Creatine gummies to Eurofins to get tested. And well, the results have come back.”
The test confirmed that instead of the advertised 1.5g of creatine per gummy, there was, in fact, just 0.0848g.
“Looking at this we can assume there was once creatine in the whole of China, where the factory exists – it’s that little,” Smith added.
Ovrload quickly took to social media to defend itself, but redacted some of the information from Smith’s test report, despite clear guidance from Eurofins Food Testing UK that the report can only be reproduced in full.
Smith wasn’t the only one with concerns. Fellow supplement brand Known Nutrition sent samples of Ovrload’s creatine gummies to the same lab for testing as part of its own product research and development process.
A statement posted to Instagram read: “The first test focused on their (Ovrload’s) Blue Raspberry flavour, which concluded that these gummies contained no detectable creatine monohydrate.
“We are aware of a Eurofins certification being provided by Ovrload.
“However, this test report’s content is materially different to our UK-based testing, and even this report reflects a substantially reduced level of creatine monohydrate – raising serious doubts over the accuracy of the data provided by Ovrload.”
Known Nutrition conducted further tests on Ovrload’s Sour Watermelon-flavored gummies.
The results, posted on the brand’s Instagram account, showed that a 3g sample contained just 0.756mg of creatine – only 0.05% of the claimed 1.5g dose.
Known Nutrition stated it had reached out to Ovrload for comment but had not yet received a response.
YouTuber and fitness entrepreneur Smith had been aware of Ovrload for some time.
In fact, he was initially so impressed by the concept of creatine gummies that he invited the founder, Johnny Lye, onto a private jet to Ibiza to discuss investment and get a chew of the action.
The deal ultimately fell through, and although Smith had no affiliation with the brand, Ovrload continued using his YouTube videos in advertisements – despite receiving legal warnings to stop.
Continuing his dissection, Smith added: “Let’s look into where this really becomes an issue. Creatine gummies are expensive, and although the practicality of creatine gummies is unarguable, they’re ten times the price of powder.
“Now, if there was the purported amount of creatine in there: fine.
“But let me use the kindest amount of data in front of us. Some research shows there’s little to zero, not even enough to say there’s a trace of creatine in there.
“Let’s look at our kindest figures saying there’s 6% of the claimed creatine in each gummy. That means you would now need to take 20 times as many gummies to hit the minimal effective dose.”
Ovrload is still selling both the Blue Raspberry and Sour Watermelon gummies on its website for £36 a bag. Meanwhile, Smith is waiting on three further tests to come back from the lab.
“Now, it’s worth noting that I highly doubt the founder of Ovrload, who I think was 18 at the time of launching the business, created some masterplan to rip people off,” Smith added.
“The chances are this is a factory in China selling sweets as supplements.
“But as a business owner, who is running over 900 ads on Meta – many of which are ripping off my YouTube videos – you should be doing your due diligence to ensure efficacy; to ensure your thousands of customers are getting what they pay for.”
Smith’s full investigation can be found on his YouTube channel.
