Read enough vitamin ingredient panels, and they’ll start to look like alphabet soup. With so many different vitamins and supplements available, how do you know which to choose?

Up Front

The best place to start is disclosure. Does the vitamin company disclose all of its policies, practices, manufacturing procedures, and ingredients and make them easily accessible to the public? If you can’t easily search out the ingredients list online or find out where the plant is located, then find another brand. A reputable manufacturer is always proud of its product and sincerely wants you to feel great, so it will go out of its way to explain why its product is superior. You should be able to compare formulas, potencies, ingredients, and price simply by letting your fingers do the walking online. This way, there’s nothing you don’t know about what you’re putting in your body.

Top Five Signs

Look for these top five signs of high-quality vitamins:

• Quality ingredients. These include all-natural ingredients, whole foods, real sources of the vitamin, natural preservatives, and 100 percent of the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA).


• Price. When it comes to vitamins, the higher the price, the higher the quality. That’s because research, new formulations, natural ingredients, special manufacturing, and quality equipment, as well as adherence to new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vitamin Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) cost a lot of money. Always check the ingredients list and research the company background and practices to be sure.


• Research. Look for new vitamin formulations based on solid scientific research and studies. High-quality vitamin companies will always show you the research and ideas behind their formulations.


• No chemicals. Stay away from chemical vitamin sources, additives, preservatives, carbohydrate fillers and allergens like nuts and soy. Another tip-off is a listing of way more than 100 percent of the RDA for each vitamin. These vitamins will be cheap in price and will have almost no potency because the human body does not need or use the chemicals: Your body needs real sources of the vitamins it can absorb!


• Good Manufacturing Practices. The FDA recently imposed new, stricter regulations on all vitamin and supplement manufacturers.

These standards include a new consistency in the way vitamins and supplements are produced and handled:

• Accurate labeling.


• Quality control procedures.


• Physical Plant standards for machinery and equipment, cleaning, and operations.


• Ingredients testing.


• Records maintenance.


• Consumer complaints.

These new regulations will eliminate sub-potent or super-potent formulas; contaminants such as bacteria, pesticides, lead, or incorrect ingredients; tablet size variation; underfilled containers; mislabeling; improper packaging; or foreign material inclusion. The new rulings will apply to any companies that manufacture, pack, hold, or supply ingredients, as well as any involved in testing, packing, quality control, labeling, or distribution. The rules even apply to companies involved in these activities worldwide if they’re planning distribution to the United States.

Human Health and Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said it best at a recent hearing of the proposed new rulings: “Americans must have confidence that the dietary supplements they purchase are not contaminated and that they contain the dietary ingredients and the amounts claimed on the labels. Millions of Americans use dietary supplements, and we owe it to them to ensure that they are getting the products [for which] they’re paying. ...”

Look for adherence to these policies as your assurance of the safety and efficacy of the vitamins or supplements you choose.
—Naomi Mannino