Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Edit: Below is the original review. My suspicion was that the manufacturing facility in Italy was attempting to pass off fake product. Doctor's Best and NatureMade both source these caplets from the exact same people and I've had issues with both of them see below. As it happens, I did a little experiment and baked the replacement product that Doctor's Best sent me last week in the oven at 175 degrees for 45 minutes and the exact same thing happened to the pill. It turned brown and oozed out of the enteric coating. So this was clearly a heat issue - in transit or storage (or both) and likely not the fault of Doctor's Best (or NatureMade). I like the product and recommend that if you buy it, you check caplets carefully before ingesting to see if they've been stored in a hot place. *************************************************************************************************************************************************************** I've been purchasing SAM-e since 2007 from retailers like Costco (Nature Made) and Amazon.com (usually Doctor's Best) and even eBay (both aforementioned brands) on occasion. One time in about 2010 I noticed that some Nature Made SAM-e 400mg pills in the blister packs were discolored and soft to the touch. Where normal SAM-e caplets are rock hard and the substance inside is white if you snap one open, these had a darker brown caplet coating and inside was a caramel-like soft, pliable substance. I chalked this up to a freak occurrence and mostly forgot about it. Well, it just happened again with the Doctor's Best brand SAM-e 400mg pills I purchased from Amazon (verified above) and I was smart enough to take pictures this time. I also contacted Doctor's Best but they have not yet replied. Please see attached photos. On the right is the discolored caplet which is easy to slice into with a knife. On the left is the normal tablet which is too hard to slide a knife into, and the pill snaps in half instead like it should. This is HIGHLY disturbing. What I'm seeing here is not a case of some caplets spoiling or being exposed to moisture. The blister pack was totally sealed. This is an attempt to pass off a mystery substance for SAM-e, and it has now occurred with two different brands over the span of 6 years. Of note, both of these brands source their product from the same supplier in Italy, so that is the likely culprit - BUT - it doesn't matter to me, the consumer - when I'm getting creepy looking mysterious substances inside sealed foil blister packs from an otherwise reputable source of dietary supplements. This is also HIGHLY unacceptable. I would say that about 10-20% of the caplets in box are "defective" (or have been tampered with). I will update review when I have heard back from the analytical lab where I am dropping this off on Monday as well as with whatever response I get from Doctor's Best. Until then, I would avoid the caplet form of SAM-e from Doctor's Best or Nature Made (or anyone else whose product is said to be sourced from Italy).