Dear Dr. Oppitz,
I am confused about how to determine the quality of
nutritional supplements and herbs. Can you please give me some guidance and
recommendations?
Bewildered in Billings
Confused about vitamin and mineral supplements?
I don’t blame you. How can a consumer be sure that a product really contains
what is on the label? Or that the manufacturer is using the best form of a
substance, since research has shown that not all types of vitamins or parts of
plants are equally effective. I’m not sure which is rising faster—interest in
nutritional and herbal supplementation or confusion about where, how and what
to purchase.
Problems with supplements run a
very wide spectrum, ranging from too little of an ingredient or too much to
some kind of contamination. Not surprisingly, complex products are more prone
to problems than single-ingredient products. The top problems with supplements
include:
- Too little of the active ingredient
- Too much of the active ingredient
- Wrong ingredient
- Contamination (solvents, chemicals, bacteria, mold,
pesticides, herbicides, etc.)
- Misleading or unsupported health claims
- Dangerous or illegal ingredients
- Poor disintegration (product is not digested properly or
fully)
- Rancid oils
- Dairy free claim—may contain dairy
One of the most serious problems
facing the nutrition industry today is that a flood of inferior ingredients is
pouring into our nutritional supplements from unmonitored manufacturing plants
around the world. Raw materials from these companies typically cost a fraction
of the price of nutrients produced by established and responsible
manufacturers. The dangerous part is that manufacturing plants in developing
regions of the world sometimes exercise sub-standard quality control. There
are extremely high-quality products available, but some supplement
producers—pressured by the consumer—often seek out the cheapest raw materials.
Samples of nutrients received from “cheap” manufacturers are often badly
contaminated with organic solvents used in the manufacturing process. These
Organic Volatile Impurities (OVI’s) include solvents such as acetone, toluene,
hexane, and ether.
Current quality control (QC)/quality assurance
(QA) standards (cGMPs) are not followed by most manufacturers; they are also
not FDA enforced. 70% or more of manufacturers do no verification testing of
raw materials or finished products. There is a serious lack of education about
the manufacturing QC/QA required to insure production of consistent high
quality “clean” products.
The best manufacturers test every batch of herbal
raw material for authenticity, potency, microbiology, heavy metals,
herbicides and pesticides, aflatoxins, and chemical solvent residue. They
should also test every batch of non-herbal raw materialfor authenticity,
potency, microbiology, heavy metals (on selected products), and chemical
solvent residue. Every batch of finsished product should be tested for
potency, microbiology, and stability. ALL natural product suppliers need to
provide and prove this level of quality assurance. If not, it is just hype and
consumers risk treatment failure and/or contamination.
Although there are many steps a consumer can
take to ensure the safety and quality of one’s nutritional supplements, your
chances are better if:
- You know what ingredient you are looking for. If
you are told to take an herb, understand that there are different species
and parts of plants known to be effective. Know which one you are looking
for—it should be clearly marked on the label.
- You know what form you are looking. For example,
if it is an herbal extract or a powder; extracts can be 10 times stronger
than the whole plant.
- You read labels carefully.
- The supplement manufacturer does business with the most
respected (and usually the most expensive) producers/suppliers of
raw materials.
- The supplement manufacturer tests EVERY batch of
ingredients.
- The supplement manufacturer utilizes clean facilities
and well-trained personnel in the encapsulation and bottling processes.
Many companies are lax in this regard, with the unnecessary handling and
exposure to contaminants of food supplements.
- The quality claims are verified by presentation of
evidence.
- Ask your doctor. Naturopathic physicians generally
have brands that they prefer for different items.
The most important factor that
drives manufacturers to cut corners is the economic pressure placed on them by
consumers. When consumers rush in droves to purchase their supplements at
discount prices, the entire industry feels compelled, as a matter of survival,
to follow the demands of the consumer. Thus, through your purchasing power and
vigilance, there are many ways that consumers can signal manufacturers to
adhere to quality standards.
If you buy your supplements from a
multilevel marketing company, such as Usana and Shaklee, you will be pleased to
know that most do a surprisingly good job of quality control and produce
excellent products.
Juro’s pharmacy, the Good Earth
Market, and other local health food stores carry some professional quality
supplements including Pharmax, Nordic Naturals, Carlson’s, Standard Process,
Herb Pharm, Vital Nutrients, Emerita, and Vitanica.
