How Products were Selected:
Products tested represent those popular among ConsumerLab.com members and commonly sold and/or available in the U.S. ConsumerLab.com purchased products on the open market through retail stores, on-line retailers, and direct sales companies. Products were not accepted directly from manufacturers.Testing Methods:
- Authenticity of apple cider vinegar products by High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) versus an authenticated reference standard.
- Quantification of Acetic Acid by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).
- Quantitative analysis of lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury by ICP-MS.
- Disintegration of tablets (excluding orodispersible, chewable, sublingual and time release formulations) was analyzed utilizing United States Pharmacopeia (USP) <2040> recommendations entitled "Disintegration and Dissolution of Nutritional Supplements".
- Disintegration of orodispersible tablets (ODTs) were analyzed utilizing European Pharmacopeia recommendations (European Pharmacopeia 7th edition 2010).
- Disintegration time of enteric coated, time-release, and sustained release tablet, caplets and softgel formulations utilizing USP <2040> methodology for delayed-release (enteric-coated) tablets.
ConsumerLab.com may modify or use other appropriate test methods if necessary to test special product formulations.
Identities of the products were not disclosed to the laboratories performing the testing.
Passing Score:*
To be "Approved" by ConsumerLab.com, a product must meet the following requirements:- Contain a detectable amount of acetic acid that is at least 100% and no more than 125% of claimed amount of acetic acid. Contain less than 20% acetic acid per serving.
- Be consistent with profile for apple cider vinegar (main compound bands on HPTLC consistent with Retention factors (Rf) and color in upper plate region) versus reference standards. (Note: Product will fail if only lower Rf bands are consistent — as could occur with maltodextrin -- but lacks upper Rf bands).
- Heavy Metals: Unfiltered products and those containing whole plant parts , rice bran, cocoa or more than 250 mg minerals per daily serving must not exceed the following limits:
Lead:- Products marketed for use by children under 12 years of age or by pregnant or nursing women may not exceed the State of California's Prop 65 limits for lead in dietary supplements of 0.5 mcg per recommended daily serving with an additional allowance of 0.8 mcg if the product contains more than 1,000 mg/day of calcium.
- Products with a single serving weight of less than 5 grams that are not marketed for use by children under 12 years of age, may not exceed the State of California's Prop 65 limits for lead in dietary supplements of 0.5 mcg per recommended daily serving (above which a warning regarding reproductive harm, birth defects, or cancer risks is required in California) with an additional allowance of 0.4 mcg if containing 250-999 mg/day of any combination of elemental calcium, magnesium and potassium or 0.8 mcg if containing more than 1,000 mg/day of any combination of these minerals. An additional allowance of 0.5 mcg is provided if containing 250-999 mg/day of whole herb (not extract) or 1.0 mcg if containing 1000 mg/day or more of whole herb (not extract). However, total lead allowance must not exceed 2 mcg per daily serving.
- Products with single serving weights of 5 grams or more that are not marketed for children under 12 years of age may not exceed 2.5 mcg per serving nor 4.0 mcg per daily serving.
- Contain less than 10 micrograms of total arsenic per daily serving (based on Canada’s limit per daily serving of a natural health product, and U.S. EPA and state of New Jersey limit in 1 liter of water). Products found to exceed this amount were tested for inorganic arsenic and must not contain more than 2.1 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per daily serving (Canada's additional limit in natural health products).
- If marketed for use by children under 12 years of age, may not exceed 3.0 micrograms of cadmium per recommended daily serving (based on Canada's limit for a child weighing 75lbs). If not marketed for use by children under 12 years of age, may not exceed 4.1 micrograms of cadmium per recommended daily serving (above which California's Prop 65 law requires a "reproductive harm" warning due to developmental toxicity and male reproductive harm.
- May not exceed 2 micrograms of inorganic mercury per daily serving (based on EPA limit for mercury in 1 liter of water).
- If applicable to the product, it must meet recommended USP <2040> parameters for disintegration of dietary supplements (excluding ODTs, chewable, sublingual and time-release products).
- Orodispersible tablets (ODTs) must meet recommendations of European Pharmacopeia 7th edition, 2010 (Brniak et.al, SPS 2015).
- Enteric coated, time-release, and sustained release tablet, caplet and softgel formulations must meet recommended USP <2040> parameters for delayed-release (enteric-coated) tablets, caplets and softgels by visual inspection.
- Meet FDA labeling requirements.
* 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 display unacceptable variation in quality, present a safety risk or provide misleading or inaccurate information in its labeling.
