Over half of the 21 multivitamin products for adults and children tested by ConsumerLab.com were found to have issues, including high levels of lead and incorrect amounts of certain ingredients.
According to ConsumerLab.com, only 10 out of the 21 products tested met their claims and quality standards.
ConsumerLab.com, a privately held company based in White Plains, New York, provides independent evaluations and consumer information on products related to health and nutrition. The company has no financial ties to any companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell consumer products.
In a telephone interview with Reuters Health, Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com, highlighted some concerning findings. One of the most serious problems was a women’s multivitamin containing 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily dose. This is more than 10 times the allowable amount in California, the only state with lead regulations for supplements.
Cooperman explained that while there is lead in many foods and drinks, the amount in this multivitamin exceeded the daily exposure from all other sources over five days. Another troubling discovery was a children’s vitamin containing 216 percent of the labeled amount of vitamin A, far exceeding the recommended intake for kids under 9 years old.
Additional issues were found, such as a dissolvable tongue strip containing no vitamin A as claimed, and four other products having insufficient amounts of vitamin A or folic acid.
Cooperman also mentioned that some products had difficulty breaking apart, meaning their ingredients may not be fully utilized by the body.
SOURCE:SCIAM.COM
