Banned Ingredients that Will Get Your Business Rejected by Payment Processors

Under the Dietary Supplement and Education Act of 1994, firms that manufacture and distribute dietary supplements and ingredients must evaluate their own products to ensure compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requirements ^[1] US Food and Drug Administration. “Questions and Answers on Dietary Supplements.” Accessed August 22, 2024.. Accordingly, these companies cannot adulterate any ingredients or use any banned ingredients in their products. Additionally, they cannot make any claims about the product’s ability to prevent or cure illnesses.

If you have a nutraceutical business and want to make these claims, your product will move from being regulated as a dietary supplement to a drug. This will make the rules surrounding its regulation much, much stricter.

The Wellness Industry and Regulations

In 2022, the global wellness economy grew from $4.5 trillion in 2020 to $5.6 trillion ^[2] Global Wellness Institute. “Wellness Economy Statistics & Facts.” Accessed August 22, 2024.. The industry has 11 sectors, including personal care and beauty, healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss, public health, prevention and personalized medicine, and traditional and complementary medicine. If your business is part of any of these sectors, you can make it a lucrative venture. 

Although your business may have good prospects, you should also know the wellness industry’s regulations. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates dietary supplements differently than typical food and drugs ^[3]US Food & Drug Administration. “Dietary Supplements.” Accessed August 22, 2024.. While the FDA regulates the products often sold in the wellness industry to protect against false claims, they do not approve dietary supplements ^[4]US Food & Drug Administration. “Rumor Control.” Accessed August 22, 2024..

What Happens if You Use Banned Ingredients

Because drugs are more strictly regulated than dietary supplements, there are banned ingredients you won’t be able to include in your products if you want to work with payment processors. Since working with these processors will allow you to accept various payments, including credit card, mobile, and online payments, this can be very detrimental.

In brief, they do not want to be held liable for processing the payments for any product that may be considered dangerous. Therefore, they conduct regular audits of any client in the wellness industry. If they find out you are selling anything with a banned ingredient, they can terminate your merchant account anytime. You could even get on the Terminated Merchant File. Of course, if you end up here, you may never be able to get a merchant account again. As a result, you won’t be able to process many payments coming your way.

With this in mind, you want to steer clear of this risk. To this end, here is a list of ingredients that are either restricted or banned by credit card processors. While none of these are illegal, if you sell dietary supplements, you cannot include them in your products. Otherwise, you’ll have to go through extra steps when including them to ensure PCI Compliance.

List of Banned Ingredients

Since the list is long, we’ve organized it alphabetically for your convenience.

Ingredients Banned by Payment Processors: Closing Thoughts

Suppose you’re worried your product may include any of these ingredients, or you want to know the steps you must take to ensure your business is compliant. Your best bet is to get a nutraceutical supplement merchant account. Your dedicated account manager can provide the resources you need to stay updated on all regulations so your business can thrive.

With this in mind, PaymentCloud offers the guidance to ensure you follow all PCI Compliance standards. Therefore, you don’t have to navigate the rules by yourself. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.