New Zealand Food Safety is investigating alleged breaches of the Food Act 2014 by supplements retailer NZ Muscle.
Acting deputy director-general Mike Inglis confirmed the investigation into claims detailed in a recent YouTube video. Officers from the agency met with complainants on Tuesday as part of the probe.
A former employee and two others released a 45-minute video detailing alleged questionable practices at the company. NZ Muscle is a business established in 2006 that sells health foods and fitness supplements online and through physical stores.
The company issued a statement acknowledging an internal review had found labelling and packing problems across three product lines: No Brand, NZ Muscle, and Shotgun Creatine. These problems were present in one isolate product sold in 2020 and earlier. NZ Muscle said it would fully cooperate with government investigations and invited affected customers to request refunds.
A former employee who worked at the Auckland head office for three years until 2022 said they were aware of unhygienic repackaging in the warehouse back room. The former employee alleged products were packaged in a warehouse corner with no safety regulations, by workers including 17-year-olds without gloves who were not asked to wash hands.
Another employee alleged that higher-up staff disclosed in a company meeting last year they did not test creatine levels in products due to cost. NZ Muscle supplied a certificate from Human and Supplement Testing Australia dated May 2026 showing negative test results for banned substances in its creatine, but did not supply documents showing that creatine levels had been independently confirmed.
The Commerce Commission has received 26 concerns about NZ Muscle since 2016. Spokesperson Simon Pope said the commission is reassessing the matter due to new concerns. Earlier concerns received by the commission were assessed and screened but did not progress to an investigation at the time.
When presented with specific claims, NZ Muscle told RNZ they had nothing more to add.