{"id":578766,"date":"2026-08-24T11:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T11:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/578766\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T11:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T11:54:11","slug":"supplement-scandal-commerce-commission-launches-formal-probe-into-embattled-nz-muscle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/578766\/","title":{"rendered":"Supplement scandal: Commerce Commission launches formal probe into embattled NZ Muscle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, the Commerce Commission confirmed<\/a> it had now launched a full investigation under the Fair Trading Act 1986 Part 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe commission has opened an investigation into conduct and representations made in relation to sports and nutritional products and supplements,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\" The Commerce Commission has shared more information about recent complaints made about supplement companies as it carries out its NZ Muscle probe. New Zealand Herald composite photo<\/p>\n

Commerce Commission investigations can also take several months \u2013 and much longer if charges are laid in the High Court.<\/p>\n

If the company is found guilty of breaching the Fair Trading Act, it could face six-figure fines.<\/p>\n

Violations of the Fair Trading Act can lead to fines up to $600,000 for companies per offence, and up to $200,000 for company directors or individuals.<\/p>\n

NZ Muscle was launched in the early 2000s by founder Dion Roosenbrand<\/a>; who until the scandal broke was the company\u2019s chief executive.<\/p>\n

NZ Muscle\u2019s reputation took a body blow when a video \u2013 titled \u201cEXPOSING New Zealand\u2019s Biggest Supplement Brand\u201d \u2013 was released online on June 19.<\/p>\n

\" Management of Auckland FC – whose ownership includes American billionaire Bill Foley, New Zealand\u2019s richest businesswoman Anna Mowbray and her partner and ex-All Black Ali Williams \u2013 have “terminated” their partnership with NZ Muscle. New Zealand Herald composite photo<\/p>\n

Broadcast on the Kino House Investigates channel on YouTube, the 40-minute video featured former workers and whistleblowers talking about some of NZ Muscle\u2019s alleged practices.<\/p>\n

The video included the explosive claims that NZ Muscle knowingly sold stock when it had passed its use-by date.<\/p>\n

It also alleged the company had relabelled cheaper foreign products as its own New Zealand-made premium product. The video showed photos of empty stacks of tubs of a cheaper Mexican product in large bins at NZ Muscle\u2019s Auckland headquarters.<\/p>\n

An NZ Muscle spokesperson later confirmed whey protein and creatine products had been packed in \u201cnon-compliant\u201d packaging, while two protein products had been \u201crelabelled inappropriately\u201d.<\/p>\n

\" NZ Muscle began its life in an Auckland garage, before going onto being a trusted product by thousands of New Zealand gym-goers and other active Kiwis. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Within four days, NZ Muscle had apologised to customers and removed a raft of products from its shelves and popular online shop. It said an internal review had found several of its whey protein and creatine products had non-compliant packaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cNZ Muscle apologises for these issues and invites affected customers to request refunds directly,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

By then, both the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Commerce Commission had confirmed they were investigating complaints against the company.<\/p>\n

And seven days after the video was released, MPI ordered the recall of two products \u2013 NZ Muscle Creatine (unflavoured) and No Brand Creatine \u2013 fearing the \u201cpossible presence of an undeclared allergen (milk)\u201d.<\/p>\n

Roosenbrand stepped down as chief executive, being replaced by former professional boxer and community advocate Dave Letele.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Letele (left) initially replaced Dion Roosenbrand as chief executive of NZ Muscle. <\/p>\n

Roosenbrand said in a video when he stepped aside: \u201cWe made mistakes, we recalled product, and isolated any product with potential risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m truly sorry to our customers, staff, partners and suppliers who have all been affected by this.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Letele\u2019s tenure in the role lasted just a week before he left after receiving abuse and allegations of death threats.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Food Safety \u2013 an internal business unit of the Ministry for Primary Industries \u2013 last week told the Herald the investigation relating to alleged breaches of the Food Act 2014 was now in the hands of Auckland Council.<\/p>\n

NZ Muscle\u2019s main headquarters are in Auckland.<\/p>\n

Breaches of the Food Act can lead to fines of up to $300,000 for an individual and $1.5 million for body corporates or companies.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Commerce Commission has launched a formal investigation into NZ Muscle, founded in the early 2000s by Dion Roosenbrand. New Zealand Herald composite photo<\/p>\n

Auckland Council told the Herald it had concluded its part of the investigation and found \u201cno evidence of critical risk\u201d to food safety \u2013 a finding that is scheduled to be independently verified by independent auditor AsureQuality later this month.<\/p>\n

The Herald also revealed last week more Kiwi supplement companies could be up for fines<\/a> if detailed concerns about them are substantiated after the NZ Muscle scandal.<\/p>\n

Allegations that other supplement companies have benefited from inaccurate expiry dates and country of origin labelling, as well as dodgy reviews, are about to be assessed by New Zealand consumer watchdog<\/a> the Commerce Commission.<\/p>\n

One of the allegations had already been looked at and dismissed.<\/p>\n

Four others are to be assessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the concerns took issue with reviews on a certain product allegedly failing to disclose the product had been gifted,\u201d a Commerce Commission spokesperson told the Herald in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother concern related to an allegation that country of origin labelling was inaccurate.<\/p>\n

\u201cA third concern related to someone being charged for an order that never arrived, with attempted follow-ups unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

\" Several NZ Muscle products have been recalled as the embattled company faces a duo of government agency probes. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother alleges the relabelling of products with a new expiry date.\u201d<\/p>\n

If full investigations are commissioned, they\u2019ll be carried out by specialist commission investigators with input from internal lawyers. Such investigations can take up to a year.<\/p>\n

If the allegations are proven, they will be considered breaches of the Fair Trading Act.<\/p>\n

The fifth consumer complaint alleged inaccurate pricing and the commission opted to take no further action \u201cdue to an unclear breach of legislation within our remit, and the conduct appearing isolated or already remedied\u201d.<\/p>\n

Neil Reid<\/a> is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 34 years of newsroom experience. <\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, the Commerce Commission confirmed it had now launched a full investigation under the Fair Trading Act 1986…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,7520,2371,3311,18982,16132,2070,296,12898,1743,1739,12942,17154,111,139,69,28758,9644,24562,13026],"class_list":["post-578766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-commerce","tag-commission","tag-consumer","tag-embattled","tag-formal","tag-full","tag-into","tag-investigation","tag-launched","tag-launches","tag-muscle","tag-nations","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-probe","tag-scandal","tag-supplement","tag-watchdog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}