Breast enhancers fail to rise to the occasion

So-called breast enhancement supplements are ineffective, according to the latest examinations by independent testing body ConsumerLab.com.

In an article published on ConsumerLab.com​ , the organisation reviews all the current scientific literature and product information regarding these popular supplements. ConsumerLab.com usually carries out laboratory tests of the products it reviews, but in this case found no evidence that any of them was even worth recommending.

"This review caused us to depart from our traditional testing of products because no product of which we are aware would merit our approval even if it contained what it claimed,"​ said Tod Cooperman, ConsumerLab.com's president.

The review found no well-controlled clinical studies and no sound theoretical basis for any of the twenty ingredients often appearing in such products, to be effective. For example, there is no reason to believe that oestrogenic herbs (including soy, red clover, fennel, and hops) should increase breast size in young women, ConsumerLab.com said, adding that if anything, they could theoretically decrease it.

However, most of the doses of these herbs used in the supplements are too small to have any effect whatsoever, it concluded.