Bloomberg Government: Chinese-Owned GNC Draws Fire Over US Military Base Presence

Contact: Lexi Kranich (814) 380-4408

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A congressman and former Army special operator is seeking to bar GNC from operating on US military bases, saying the supplements and wellness products retailer is a potential national security risk.

GNC—which started as a small, family-owned health-food store in Pittsburgh in 1935—was bought by the Chinese state-owned Harbin Pharmaceutical Group after the supplements retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2020. The vastly expanded, now international, company has had a ubiquitous presence in the US.

The new GNCownership can put the US military at risk by potentially exposing personal information, spending habits, geolocation and behavioral patterns that could be exploited by the Chinese government, says Rep. Pat Harrigan, a retired US Army Green Beret.

“The Chinese Communist Party has no place inside American military bases,” Harrigan (R-N.C.) said in a statement to Bloomberg Government.

The freshman congressman, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced legislation that essentially seeks to ban GNC from operating on military bases. Harrigan says he wants to include the “Military Installation Retail Security Act of 2025’’ in the annual defense authorization measure that the committee will consider later this year. Details of the proposal were first obtained by Bloomberg Government.

GNC sells health and nutrition products worldwide, including vitamins, supplements, minerals, herbs, sports nutrition, diet and energy supplements. It operates on about 85 US military bases. Active-duty troops, seeking to enhance physical performance, are much more likely to use dietary supplements compared with civilians, a US Army Public Health Center study reports.

US lawmakers for years have raised alarm about attempts by China and other foreign adversaries to buy or gain access to prime real estate from which they could spy or sabotage critical infrastructure. For example, Chinese plans to purchase land near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, which houses air and space operations, set off alarm bells in Congress and prompted the Biden administration to propose a rule requiring any foreign company or individual looking to buy land within 100 miles of certain U.S. military bases to get government approval.

Harrigan’s bill would prohibit the Department of Defense from entering into, renewing, or extending long-term agreements with on-base retailers operating through military exchanges — retail stores that provide tax-free shopping to eligible military personnel and their families if those retailers are owned or controlled by entities operating within China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. The restriction would also apply to morale, welfare, and recreation facilities.

Exchanges and the morale, welfare and recreation facilities operate outside of the regular federal budget, meaning their funding comes from revenue they produce. GNC has operated locations on military installations as early as 2002, well before Harbin Pharmaceutical’s ownership. 

Chinese ownership of a company that’s “been allowed to operate on our installations, collect data from our troops, and do it all under the radar is a stunning failure of judgment,” Harrigan said in his statement. “My Military Installation Retail Security Act shuts this down. It rips up the contracts, closes every loophole, and ensures our enemies can’t exploit our infrastructure or our people ever again.”

The bases that have GNC retailers include Andrews Air Force Base, in Maryland, Fort Bragg, N.C, the home of many Army special operators, Marine Corps bases at Quantico, Va., and 29 Palms, Calif., and Patrick Space Force Base, Fla., which houses sensitive space operations.

Company Response

“Our Chinese ownership sees no personal information and, in fact, they have zero access to our data and our networks,” CEO Michael Costello said in an interview. “Nothing gets transferred to China in terms of personal information or other data. We’ve been on bases for a long time and we take it very seriously in terms of making sure that none of that data, or even the data if you shop in our store in New York, is not going to China.”

GNC Holdings operates under a long- term concession contract with the military exchanges and doesn’t need to register with System for Award Management, the official US government website where entities sign up to do business with the federal government.

SAM.gov acts as the initial filter for entities seeking US government business as it provides information about the entities’ ownership. Under federal law, all contractors registered on the website must disclose ownership. Despite not requiring SAM.gov listing, GNC Holdings, LLC was registered on SAM.gov in 2022. It renewed that registration in 2023 without disclosing ownership, according to information provided by Harrigan’s office. The registration expired Oct. 11, 2024, and hasn’t been renewed.

“We are very transparent with the US government,” Costello said. The company discloses quarterly audits to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS. The Defense Department, in turn, has given GNC “accolades,” for how good we are and how really proactive we are at managing all this.”

Harrigan’s bill would prohibit the secretary of defense from any concession agreements with retailers with Chinese, Russian, Iranian or North Korean ownership, or allow such retailers to conduct business at US military bases.

“In this case, looking at GNC, you are looking at a company that is already compliant, already doing all the work, so you are trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist,” Costello said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a Florida senator in 2020 had voiced concerns over the company’s plans to sell to Harbin, citing risk of GNC customers’ personal data being exposed to the Chinese government and pressing for a national security review by the Treasury Department.

Even so, Bankruptcy Court Judge Karen Owens approved the health and wellness company’s plan to sell its assets to its largest shareholder and original bidder, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holding Co ., for $770 million.

GNC rode a wave of interest in nutrition, eventually expanding to more than 9,000 outlets. It used the bankruptcy process to exit or renegotiate expensive leases.