How to read a supplement label

Start at the back, not the front

The front of a pack is designed to be chosen. The back is the part that is regulated.

Everything you need in order to compare two products sits on the back or the side panel, in small type.

• Product name and legal category, usually the words food supplement
• Ingredients list, in descending order of weight
• Nutrition or supplement information panel with amounts
• Recommended daily portion as sold
• Net quantity, so pack weight or count
• Allergen information and storage

The amount is always per portion, not per pack

Amounts on a supplement panel are given per the portion the label states, not per capsule and not per pack.

If one label states a portion of one capsule and another states two, the two panels are not comparable until you work back to a single capsule.

• Find the portion the panel is based on before reading any number
• Divide by the number of capsules or scoops in that portion
• Only then compare two labels side by side

Capsule count is not the same as servings

A pack of 120 capsules is not four months of anything. If the stated portion is two capsules, the pack holds 60 portions.

Pack size, portion size and servings per pack are three separate numbers. Cost per portion needs all three.

Ingredient weight is not nutrient content

An ingredients list gives the weight of the ingredient that went in. The nutrition panel gives the amount of the nutrient itself.

Those two numbers are different for most minerals and for many plant ingredients, and the larger one is usually the one printed in the biggest type.

• Compound weight is the whole ingredient, salt and carrier included
• Elemental or active content is the part being counted as the nutrient
• A panel that only shows compound weight cannot be compared with one that shows active content

What NRV means and what it does not

NRV stands for nutrient reference value. It is a single labelling reference figure for the general adult population, used so that panels can be compared on the same scale.

It is a comparison unit on a label. It is not a target, a recommendation or a personal requirement, and some nutrients have no NRV at all, which is why those rows show a dash.

Claims, flags and the words in between

Health and nutrition claims on supplements are controlled, and a legitimate label keeps them narrow and specific.

Loose marketing language on the front of a pack is not a claim and is not verified. Treat it as decoration and go back to the panel.

• Suitability wording such as vegan or gluten free should be traceable to a supplier record
• Absence of a flag is not proof of absence, it usually means nobody has checked
• Bestseller, premium and advanced are not label terms

A short checklist you can use in a shop

Six questions get you most of the way, and all six can be answered from the pack in your hand.

• What is the stated portion
• What is the nutrient amount in that portion
• Is that figure the compound or the active content
• How many portions are in the pack
• What is the cost per portion
• What allergens and suitability information is actually stated