The guide

Creatine and the law: under-18 sales in New York, California and other states

By GyroscopeUpdated November 15, 202613 sources

As of November 2026

No US state has banned creatine itself. Two states bar selling supplements marketed for muscle building or weight loss to anyone under 18, and both name creatine as one of the things that can put a product in that group. New York’s law has been in force since April 22, 2024. California’s AB 2030, signed on September 28, 2026, starts on January 1, 2027. Stores have to check ID, and online sellers have to verify age. The laws apply to sellers, and neither changes what the science says about teens and creatine.

The headlines this fall made it sound simpler than it is. “California bans creatine for teens” is close, and “you’ll need ID to buy protein powder” is mostly wrong. Neither law lists banned products. They describe a kind of product, a supplement sold for weight loss or muscle building, and then list clues a court can use to decide whether a product is one. Creatine is one of the clues, and since most creatine on the shelf is sold for strength and muscle, most of it lands inside the definition.

The laws, state by state

As of November 2026. Laws change, and a court decides case by case which products count.

What counts as a muscle-building supplement

Both laws define the product by how it’s sold. In California’s words, it’s a dietary supplement “labeled, marketed, or otherwise represented for the purpose of achieving weight loss or building muscle.” When a product’s status is in question, a California court may consider:

1. It contains an FDA-approved weight loss or muscle building ingredient, a steroid, or creatine, green tea extract, raspberry ketone, garcinia cambogia or green coffee bean extract
2. Its label or ads say or imply it changes weight, fat, appetite or metabolism, or maintains or increases muscle or strength
3. It is otherwise represented as being for weight loss or building muscle
4. The store or seller signs it, tags it or shelves it with other weight loss or muscle building products

New York’s law lists the same kinds of clues, creatine included. The big difference is protein. New York exempts protein powders, protein drinks and foods marketed for their protein, unless they add an ingredient that would count on its own, like creatine. California’s text has no protein exemption written in, so for a protein product it comes down to how it’s labeled and marketed.

It works like a dress code that says no athletic wear. It doesn’t list every pair of leggings by brand. It describes what’s covered, and the label and the shelf a product sits on decide the rest.

What stores and online sellers have to do

In stores. In New York, a store has to see proof of age, like a driver’s license, passport or a student ID with a birth date. It can skip asking someone who looks at least 25, but that’s no defense if it turns out the buyer was 17. In California, a store has to ask for valid ID from anyone whose age it can’t reasonably judge, and it may keep these products behind a counter or locked up.

Online and delivery. In New York, every shipment needs an adult’s signature and a government photo ID at the door. The general counsel of The Vitamin Shoppe wrote in 2024 that this means shoppers have to be home to sign for restricted orders. In California, an online seller has to either check the buyer’s name, birth date and address against government-sourced records, or ship with an adult signature and photo ID at delivery, and it can’t run the records check on a database it controls.

Penalties. Up to $500 a violation in both states. In New York the Attorney General brings the case. In California the Attorney General, a county counsel or a city attorney can sue, ask a court to stop sales, and recover attorneys’ fees. California’s law doesn’t apply to adults, or to anyone under 18 with a prescription for the product.

Who the laws apply to

Both laws regulate sellers. They don’t make it an offense for a teenager to have or take creatine. Whether a teen should take it is a separate question, and the experts split on it. Can teens take creatine? has what pediatricians and sports nutrition researchers say, and the few trials in teenagers. We don’t give a dose to anyone under 18.

The court fight over New York’s law

The Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement industry group, sued New York on March 13, 2024, arguing the law restricts truthful speech about products and is too vague to follow. A federal judge refused to block the law, and on November 13, 2025 the Second Circuit agreed, finding the group unlikely to win and that blocking the law wouldn’t serve the public interest. The group asked the Supreme Court to hear the case. On October 5, 2026, the Court declined, so New York’s law stands.

Other states

• Colorado has barred selling over-the-counter diet pills to under-18s since July 1, 2024. Its law doesn’t cover muscle-building supplements or creatine.
• New Jersey. Assemblywoman Shanique Speight introduced A5487 on September 14, 2026. It would require government ID for in-person and online sales of weight-loss and muscle-building supplements and names creatine, with fines up to $750. A trade group expects it to carry over to next year, and a similar bill passed the Assembly before stalling in the Senate.
• Elsewhere. Proposals have been filed in Hawaii, Alaska, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and an October 2026 industry report counted significant activity in at least five more states.

Why these laws passed

California’s bill was co-sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders, and backed by eating disorder groups. Supporters pointed to supplements that reach the market without safety testing, to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ warnings about teens and weight-loss supplements, and to a rise in poison control calls about supplements. Some research adds to the worry about muscle-building products in particular. In 912 Canadian teens and young adults, creatine use went with more symptoms of muscle dysmorphia, an unhealthy fixation on muscle size, when they were surveyed again later.

The opponents were supplement trade groups. They argued the bill is vague and overbroad, that federal law already bans spiked and contaminated supplements, and one objected to “the mere presence of ingredients such as creatine” counting as a clue. Creatine researchers make a related point. The International Society of Sports Nutrition calls under-18 warnings on creatine labels a legal precaution, and says creatine is acceptable for young athletes in serious, supervised training who stay within normal doses.

What changes, and when

• New York, now. Expect stores to ask for ID, and online orders of covered products to need an adult signature at the door.
• California, from January 1, 2027. Expect the same at the register and online, and stores are allowed to keep these products behind the counter.
• Everywhere else, for now. No state law restricts buying creatine at any age, though many creatine labels carry an under-18 warning (ISSN 2017).