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White Plains, New York, November 1, 2017 — Multivitamin/multimineral supplements are among the most popular supplements, with many consumers relying on them to provide nutrients they may not get from their diets. However, ConsumerLab.com found problems with 46% of the multivitamin supplements it recently selected for review. Problems were most common among gummy vitamins and large tablets. Among supplements that passed testing, ConsumerLab identified top choices for men, women, and children, as well as for pets, based on product quality, nutrient levels, safety, and cost.

CL's test showed that 12 multivitamins contained much less, or much more, than their listed amounts of vitamin A, vitamin D, folate, and/or calcium, with some containing as little as 24% or as much as 257% of their listed amounts. Gummy multivitamins were especially problematic: 4 out of 5 products failed testing. Many products, including gummies, exceeded Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (ULs) established by the Institute of Medicine for nutrients such niacin, vitamin A, folate, or magnesium. Exceeding Tolerable Upper Intake Levels can increase the risk of toxicity from these nutrients.

In addition, several multivitamins sold as large tablets failed to disintegrate within the allotted 30 minutes -- one of which required 3 hours, raising concern over the availability of its ingredients for absorption.

Fortunately, ConsumerLab.com also identified a number of high quality supplements which contained what they claimed, and passed its other quality criteria.

ConsumerLab.com's findings are available online in its new Multivitamin/Multimineral Supplements Review which includes CL's Top Picks for Adults, Men, Women, Adults 50 and Older, Children, and Pets based on the results of the tests, product formulations for specific nutrient needs for age and gender, and price.

Included in the review are test results and quality comparisons for 50 multivitamin/multimineral supplements for women, men, children and pets supplements, including 35 selected for testing by ConsumerLab.com and 15 that passed the same testing through CL's voluntary Quality Certification Program. Products covered in the review are: 365 Vegetarian Women's Multi With Iron, Andrew Lessman ProCaps Essential 1, Bayer One A Day Women's Formula, Berkley & Jensen Men's Daily (BJ's), Bluebonnet MultiONE, Centrum Silver Adults 50+, Country Life Core Daily-1 Multivitamins, CVS Health Spectravite Adults 50+, Designs for Health DFH Complete Multi, Dr. Whitaker Forward Gold Daily for Adults 65+, Enfamil Poly-Vi-Sol with Iron, Equate [Walmart] Complete Multivitamin 50+ , Flintstones Gummies Complete, Garden of Life mykind Organics Prenatal, Garden of Life mykind Organics Women's Multi, GNC Mega Men, GNC Mega Men Sport, GNC Women's Ultra Mega, GNC Women's Ultra Mega Active, Healthy Accents Complete Multi Senior, Integrative Therapeutics Clinical Nutrients for Diabetics, Jamieson Multi 100% Complete, Kirkland Signature (Costco) Daily Multi, MegaFood Multi For Women 55+, Member's Mark [Sam's Club] Women's 50+, Nature's Logic All Food Fortifier, Nature's Plus Ultra Source of Life Liquid, Nature's Way Alive Women's Gummy Vitamins, Nature's Way Alive! Women's Ultra Potency, New Chapter Every Woman, NOW Adam Superior Men's Multi, Olly The Perfect Women's Multi, Pet-Tabs Original Formula for Dogs, ProCare Health Bariatric Multivitamins, Pro-Sense Daily Vitamin, Pure Encapsulations O.N.E. Multivitamin, Rainbow Light Menopause One, Shakleekids Incredivites, Solgar Earth Source Multi-Nutrient, Source Naturals Vegan True Vegan Force Multiple, Stop Aging Now Multi360 Men's Support, Swanson Premium Brand High Potency Multivi Without Iron, The Honest Co. Gummy Multi-Vitamin, Trader Joe's Multi Vitamin & Mineral Antioxidant, TwinLab Daily One Caps, Up & Up (Target) Women's Multivitamin, VetriScience Laboratories Nu Cat, Vitacost Men's 50 Plus Multi-Vitamin, VitaFusion Platinum 50+ - Natural Peach Flavor, and Well at Walgreens Multivitamin Gummies Adult.

Founded in 1999, ConsumerLab.com is a leading provider of consumer information and independent evaluations of products that affect health and nutrition. Membership to ConsumerLab.com is available online and provides immediate access to reviews of more than 1,000 products from over 400 brands. The company is privately held and based in Westchester, New York. It has no ownership from, or interest in, companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell consumer products.



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