How Products were Selected: Products were selected to represent the majority of those commonly sold and/or available nationally in the U.S. ConsumerLab.com purchased products on the open market through retail stores, on-line retailers, and direct sales or multi-level marketing companies. Products were not accepted directly from manufacturers.
Testing Methods: Products were tested for the ability to disintegrate, the amount of iron, and the amount of lead. Analyses for iron and lead were performed using ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy).
Disintegration of non-chewable, non-capsule, non-enteric coated and non-time-release formulations was analyzed utilizing USP (United States Pharmacopeia) <2040> recommendations.
Products not having passing levels of key ingredients or contaminants were re-tested in a second independent laboratory using similar methods and instrumentation. All testing was conducted by independent laboratories to which the identities of the products were not disclosed.
Have a minimum of 100% of its labeled amount of elemental iron and a maximum of 125% of this amount.
Contain less than 0.5 mcg of lead per daily serving with an additional allowance of 1.0 mcg for supplements containing 1,000 mg/day or more of elemental calcium and 0.5 mcg for supplements containing specific other minerals.** For supplements not marketed for use by children, ConsumerLab.com provides an additional allowance of 0.5 mcg if containing 250 to 499 mg/day of elemental calcium, or 1.0 mcg if containing 500 to 999 mg/day of elemental calcium, and an allowance of 0.5 mcg if containing one whole herb (not extract) ingredient or 1.0 mcg for two or more whole herb ingredients. If a maximum recommended daily serving is not defined, a daily serving size will be determined and applied by CL.
Meet recommended USP parameters for disintegration for vitamin supplements (excluding capsule, enteric coated, chewable and time-release products).
Meet FDA labeling requirements.
A "Pass" was based on meeting the above criteria in either the first or second rounds of testing.
* Passing scores allow for specific margins of technical error associated with each analysis.ConsumerLab.com reserves the right to disqualify a product at any time from passing its testing if it considers such product to present a safety risk or to provide misleading or inaccurate information in its labeling.
** Based on State of California's Prop 65 lead limit. California requires supplements exceeding this limit to bear a warning label regarding lead.
