How Products were Selected:
Products selected represent those popular among readers of ConsumerLab.com and commonly sold and/or available nationally in the U.S. Consumer 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:
Curcumin and turmeric products were tested in one or more independent laboratories for the following:- Quantification of curcuminoid content by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (USP-DSC 2024).
- Analyses for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury content by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) for products containing whole herbs and/or more than 250 mg of minerals per daily dose.
- Disintegration time of tablets (excluding chewable, sublingual and time-release formulations) utilizing USP United States Pharmacopeia (USP) <2040> recommendations entitled "Disintegration and Dissolution of Nutritional Supplements."
- Disintegration time of enteric coated, time-release, and sustained release tablet, caplet and softgel formulations utilizing USP <2040> methodology for delayed-release (enteric-coated) tablets.
The Identities of the products were not disclosed to the laboratories performing the testing.
ConsumerLab.com may modify or use other appropriate test methods if necessary to test special product formulations.
Passing Score:*
To be "Approved" by ConsumerLab.com, a product must meet the following requirements:- Contain 100% and no more than 150% of its claimed and minimum expected curcuminoids. Total curcuminoids were calculated as the sum of curcumin, desmethoxycurcumin and bisdesmethoxycurcumin. Root/rhizome powders were expected to provide a minimum of 3% (% wt/wt) total curcuminoids and, for non-aqueous extracts, a minimum of 20% total curcuminoids (% wt/wt) (USP-DSC 2024). The minimum was applied if the product did not state an amount of curcuminoids from a turmeric-based ingredient or if the claimed amount was lower than the expected minimum. (Not applicable to spices)
- Heavy Metals: Products containing whole herbs and/or more than 250 mg of minerals per daily dose must not exceed the following limits:
Lead:
For Supplements:- 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.
- Must not exceed 1 microgram per gram.
For Supplements:- 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).
- Must not exceed 10 micrograms of total arsenic or 2.1 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per gram.
For Supplements:- 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.
- Must not exceed 3 micrograms per gram.
For Supplements:- May not exceed 2 micrograms of inorganic mercury per daily serving (based on EPA limit for mercury in 1 liter of water).
- 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, must meet recommended USP <2040> parameters of disintegration for dietary supplements (excluding capsule, chewable, sublingual and time-release products).
- 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.
- Be in compliance with 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 if it considers such product to display unacceptable variation in quality, present a safety risk or to provide misleading or inaccurate information in its labeling.
¹ Passing score for elemental lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury in turmeric spices based on a serving of 1 gram (approximately 1/2 level teaspoon).
