New York Creatine Law: Age, Delivery & Scope Guide

New York does not create a general ban on creatine or make simple possession illegal. Since April 22, 2024, it restricts sales, offers to sell, and promotional giveaways of covered muscle-building or weight-loss supplements to people under 18; creatine is one factor in deciding whether a product is covered. For a covered delivery, the adult signing for it must show government-issued photo ID, even when the buyer is an adult.

The key is the exact product, its full label, and how it is marketed or categorized. A plain online listing cannot settle that question by itself. This guide helps you separate the age rule, delivery rule, and product-specific scope question before you order or sell.

How old do you have to be to buy creatine in New York?

New York General Business Law §391-oo bars selling, offering to sell, or giving away as a retail or wholesale promotion a covered dietary supplement for weight loss or muscle building to anyone under 18. Retail establishments must require proof of legal age for covered purchases. The statute took effect April 22, 2024, following the law’s 180-day commencement period after it was signed in October 2023.

For a covered product, acceptable proof can include qualifying driver’s licenses or non-driver IDs, passports, military IDs, and student IDs that show a date of birth. The statute says an ID need not be requested from a person who reasonably appears to be at least 25, but that appearance is not a defense in a proceeding about a sale to someone under 18. Read the current wording in New York General Business Law §391-oo and the signed bill’s enactment record.

This is a sales and promotional-giveaway rule for covered products. It is not a general possession ban. A high school student’s question about using creatine is therefore different from the question of whether a retailer may sell that exact marketed product to a person under 18.

Why can marketing change whether a creatine product is covered?

The law defines covered dietary supplements as those labeled, marketed, or otherwise represented for weight loss or muscle building. When a court considers that question, the statute says it shall consider, among other things, ingredients, claims, images, retailer tags, product placement, and how the product is grouped in a store or on a webpage.

Creatine is expressly listed as an ingredient factor. So are claims or images suggesting a product will maintain or increase muscle or strength, or modify weight, body fat, appetite, metabolism, or nutrient metabolism. That does not turn every creatine SKU into an automatic answer. It means the complete product presentation matters.

The protein exclusion is conditional. Protein powders, protein drinks, and foods marketed as containing protein are excluded unless they contain an ingredient other than protein that, considered on its own, would constitute a covered weight-loss or muscle-building supplement. Keep the conclusion narrow to the exact item and current marketing. For training context apart from the New York rule, see Creatine Monohydrate and Creatine Safety.

What happens when a covered product is delivered?

A delivery sale includes an order placed remotely, such as by internet, mail, phone, email, catalog, or app, and a product delivered by carrier or another remote method. For covered products, a delivery seller may not sell or deliver to someone under 18.

The shipping method must also require either the purchaser or another adult at least 18 to sign for the package at the delivery address. The person who signs must provide valid government-issued photo ID showing that they are at least 18. This delivery procedure is separate from the under-18 sale restriction, so do not assume it applies only when the purchaser is under 18.

What changed in the New York lawsuit?

On October 5, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court docket for Council for Responsible Nutrition v. James, No. 25-1145, recorded that the petition for certiorari was denied. That is the current docket event; it is not a new merits ruling. You can see the dated entry on the Supreme Court docket.

Are vitamins taxed in New York?

New York’s tax guidance says qualifying dietary foods and health supplements, including vitamins and minerals, are generally exempt from sales tax regardless of whether they are sold as a solid, liquid, pill, or powder. The same bulletin lists carbonated beverages, sports drinks, and energy drinks as products that do not qualify as dietary foods or health supplements. It is a tax question, not an answer to the age-and-delivery rule. See the state’s dietary foods and supplements bulletin for the current guidance and its examples.

Use this legal category and jurisdiction card

A product can be sold as a supplement, subject to an age restriction, and still be prohibited by a sports organization. Use this card to record what a current official source says about one exact product and one activity. It does not issue legal clearance.

How to use it

1. Copy the exact current product name and complete label. Identify Supplement Facts, Drug Facts, or a prescription drug instead of relying on phrases such as “legal steroids.”
2. Choose the activity you need answered: sale, delivery, purchase, possession, or sports participation. Record the relevant state and date.
3. Read the current official rule and its definition. Check whether the product’s ingredients, powder or pill format, and marketing fall within that definition.
4. Record whether the source is current law, an enacted future rule, a proposal, or an unresolved question. Do not treat an introduced bill’s effective-date sentence as enacted law.
5. Keep the conclusion narrow. For a personal product or business decision that remains uncertain, use the recorded facts to obtain qualified advice.

Worked example: fictional shopper

Alex, age 28, is comparing a hypothetical unflavored creatine powder marketed for muscle strength and delivered to New York on October 9, 2026.

Before you order or sell

• Save the current label, including ingredients and claims.
• Check the product page category, tags, and strength or muscle-building language.
• For a delivery of a potentially covered product, expect an adult signature and government photo ID process.
• Keep sale, delivery, possession, tax, and sport-participation questions separate. One answer does not settle the others.
• If the scope question still turns on a specific label or marketing presentation, bring the completed card and current product materials to qualified legal advice.

By the Gym Floor Guide Editorial Team