Buying guide

Vitamin K2: reading the form, the carrier and the pack

What a vitamin K2 label has to name: menaquinone form, nutrient amount against preparation mass, shell and allergens.

3 min read6 sections60 capsules

Vitamin K is more than one entry

Labels distinguish vitamin K1, phylloquinone, from vitamin K2, the menaquinones. They are listed as different things because they are different things.

If a pack says vitamin K with no further detail, the single most useful question to ask of the label is which one it contains.

MK-7 and MK-4

The two menaquinones you will meet in retail packs are MK-7 and MK-4, sometimes written menaquinone-7 and menaquinone-4.

Both are vitamin K2. The point for a shopper is that the designation is printed, so a comparison between two packs can be exact rather than approximate.

Preparation mass against nutrient mass

Menaquinone ingredients are usually supplied diluted, on a powder carrier or in an oil, because the nutrient amounts involved are small.

So the mass of the ingredient in the formulation and the mass of vitamin K2 it delivers are not the same number. The nutrition panel states the nutrient figure, and that is the one to compare.

Panel row: the vitamin K2 amount, in micrograms
Ingredients list: the named preparation that carries it
Never read a preparation mass as a nutrient amount

Format changes the ingredients list

Vitamin K2 is sold as capsules, softgels, tablets and drops. This pack is 60 capsules.

A softgel brings an oil and a shell with it, a tablet brings compression aids, and drops bring a liquid base. Each shows up in the ingredients, so read the format and the list together.

Ingredients list and allergen statement

An ingredients list has to show everything in the product in descending order of weight, which includes excipients, not only the nutrients named on the front.

The allergen statement has to identify the regulated allergens that are present. Reading those two together is how you check a suitability claim rather than trust it.