What is a quality multivitamin supplement?

~ by Karen Lily, BSc Computing and Information Systems (March 2018 – updated June 2019, February 2020 and August 2022)

Quality in multi-vitamins is an important, and diverse subject. I will do my best to explain this issue simply to help people find the best multivitamin brands. So how do we know if we are buying a quality vitamin?

First we need to define what a quality supplement is. Quality is:

Safety
1. label accuracy
2. lack of contaminants, e.g. lead, cadmium, pesticides, GMOs
3. does not exceed upper intake levels
Optimum levels of nutrients for the individual
Correct variety of nutrients for the individual
Ability of nutrients to disintegrate and to be absorbed
Safety of non-active ingredients
Assurance that the nutrients have remained stable during storage, packing and shipping processes

All of the above, except for numbers 2 and 3, can, or are, being monitored by governments to some degree and by private laboratories for some brands. Some people already have a good idea of the optimum level and variety of nutrients they need for their age and health conditions. Otherwise these can be determined by a health professional.

If you have a good idea of the nutrients you want, Vitamin Inspector is a great tool to help you to work out which bottle suits you best.

Table of Contents

How is supplement quality monitored?

Governments

They carry out:

safety recalls
random inspections of plant and procedures
some product testing
risk assessment

Private laboratories

Supplements can receive certifications from private labs. These can include verification of:

label accuracy
absence of contaminants
uniformity between bottles and between batches
safety and suitability of levels and variety of nutrients for average people
inspection of plant and procedures

In both America and Australia multi-vitamin supplements are regulated for safety by government bodies. These are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, and the Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) in Australia.

Both the FDA and the TGA set guidelines for Current Good Manufacturing Processes (cGMP) which are formulated to assure end to end quality in manufacturing, testing, record keeping and for dealing with complaints. They have legal authority to deal with manufacturers that violate standards or provide unsafe products.

Summary of government regulation

Summary of government regulation of complementary medicine (including multi-vitamins) – USA and Australia

(Tip: scroll horizontally to view full table.)

Procedure	FDA (USA)	TGA (Australia)
Conducts inspections of supplement manufacturing plant	Not routinely but according to risk assessment	Not routinely but according to risk assessment
Approves new supplements before they go to market	No	Yes. The TGA does a risk assessment on complementary medicines. It keeps a register of those that it allows to be supplied in Australia. This indicates that the TGA thinks they pose a low risk of adverse effects when used in accordance with directions.
Conducts inspections of supplement manufacturing plant	Not routinely but according to risk assessment	Not routinely but according to risk assessment
Tests products	Not routinely but according to risk assessment, e.g. after complaints and randomly	Not routinely but according to risk assessment, e.g. after complaints and randomly
Requires approval of new dietary ingredients	Yes	Yes
Provides a database of recalled products	Yes	Yes
Recalls	Current FDA recalls FDA recalls archive	TGA recalls

Independent private laboratories

Private laboratories conduct testing on vitamin supplements or manufacturers.

While the supplement industry is regulated:

multi-vitamins are not tested by the government routinely
plants and procedures are not routinely inspected for compliance with current Good Manufacturing Processes (cGMP).

This makes it difficult for the consumer to ascertain the quality of multi-vitamins and has given rise to private organisations and laboratories that test multi-vitamins and inspect production facilities. Some work in conjunction with governments, sharing knowledge and expertise. The following organisations conduct testing on multi-vitamins or auditing of manufacturing processes and facilities for cGMP.

(Tip: scroll horizontally to see full table or view in landscape.)

Organisation	Test type	Testing frequency
ConsumerLab	Product testing	Every 2 or 3 years they select a number of supplements in a category for comparison and testing. Also, on application by manufacturer with payment of a fee.
Labdoor	Product testing	They test multi-vitamins that are popular in the USA and rank them according to a wide variety of factors. Also, on application by manufacturer with payment of a fee.
iTested	Product testing	Independent labs working for the supplement website, iHerb, perform tests confirming the accuracy of the labelled ingredients and for contaminants and heavy metals every 6 months.
National Sanitation Foundation (NSF)	Product testing and cGMP certification	On application by manufacturer with payment of a fee, then randomly and after complaints.
NPA – Natural Products Association	Product testing	On application by manufacturer with payment of a fee, then randomly and after complaints.
As above	cGMP certification¹	As above
Oregon Tilth (OTCO) Organic certification	Independent organic certification	On application and then annually
Underwriters Laboratories (UL)	cGMP certification¹	On application by manufacturer with payment of a fee, and then yearly.
USDA Organic certification	Independent organic certification	On application and then annually
USP – United States Pharmacopeia	Product testing	On application by manufacturer with payment of a fee, and then yearly.
As above	cGMP certification¹	As above