Over-the-Counter Vitamins vs. Speciality Brands

Date: October 6, 2009
Expert: Archana J. McEligot, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Health Science, California State University, Fullerton

Q: How effective are over-the counter vitamins, compared to a more expensive brand, such as Shaklee?

A: Dietary supplementation/vitamin use is an important and interesting topic in our society today.  With an abundant variety of name brands available, it is difficult to assess which brands to use safely.  Because dietary supplement regulation by the Food and Drug Administration is limited, this issue is even more complicated.  Importantly, as indicated on the FDA website “in 2007, the FDA issued Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for dietary supplements, a set of requirements and expectations by which dietary supplements must be manufactured, prepared, and stored to ensure quality. Manufacturers are expected to guarantee the identity, purity, strength, and composition of their dietary supplements. For example, the GMPs aim to prevent the inclusion of the wrong ingredients, the addition of too much or too little of a dietary ingredient, the possibility of contamination (by pesticides, heavy metals such as lead, bacteria, etc.), and the improper packaging and labeling of a product. Large companies are required to comply with FDA's dietary supplement GMPs now, and the smallest companies by June 2010.”  Therefore, as long as the over-the-counter vitamin follows GMP set-forth by the FDA, then they are comparable to name brands.