Can you trust the vitamins you find on the shelves?
The vitamin industry is filled with many moving parts when it comes to ensuring the safety and quality of products.
Brands like Manna are committed to producing high-quality vitamins, using bioavailable ingredients. We prioritize health and safety in every product by adhering to regulations and conducting third-party testing.
Manna goes the extra mile to ensure our vitamins are potent and meet our quality standards. Unfortunately, not all vitamin brands maintain the same level of commitment.
Regulatory bodies like the FDA play a role in ensuring that vitamins are safe for consumers. They establish standards that help make sure products are safe and marketed truthfully.
However, the rules surrounding vitamins and dietary supplements differ from those that apply to prescription drugs, so it can sometimes be difficult to know exactly what you’re getting from your vitamins.
Supplement brands must follow FDA guidelines, including manufacturing regulations like Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).
While these regulations help ensure safety, they are not designed to confirm the effectiveness of a product. This means that some brands may legally sell supplements that don’t live up to their promises or meet the highest standards of quality.
So, how can you know if your vitamin brand is trustworthy? Let’s take a closer look at how vitamins are regulated to better understand what’s in your supplement bottle.
The Role of the FDA in the Vitamin Industry
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the government body responsible for overseeing the safety of food, drugs and cosmetics in the US. It ensures that companies follow the law when making and selling products.
The FDA doesn’t “approve” dietary supplements in the way it does pharmaceuticals. Unlike drugs, supplements don’t go through a pre-market approval process and they are not tested for efficacy before going to market. The FDA only steps in if products contain harmful ingredients or make misleading health claims (e.g. claiming a supplement cures cancer).
The FDA also requires transparency in labeling. Supplement facts labels must include the supplement’s ingredients and proper usage information.
This might sound reassuring. However, supplements can be deemed safe and legal by the FDA without actually being effective.
But how can supplements be ineffective if their labeling must be accurate? Vitamins and minerals come from many different sources. Some of them are easy for your body to absorb, and others are nearly useless. Some companies opt for cheap, unabsorbable nutrients instead of highly bioavailable ones. They are honest about this on their label, knowing full well that the public doesn’t know the difference between nutrient sources.
Take magnesium oxide and magnesium citrate, for example. Both are forms of the essential mineral magnesium, but magnesium oxide is significantly less bioavailable than magnesium citrate [2]. One brand may advertise a 60% recommended daily allowance (RDA) of magnesium, sourced from magnesium oxide. Another may offer a 30% RDA of magnesium, sourced from magnesium citrate. According to the FDA, both brands are legit. However, you will likely absorb much more magnesium from the 30% vitamin than the 60% vitamin.
The truth is, the RDA percentage doesn’t matter if the nutrient isn’t easily absorbed. Honest supplement companies like Manna use high-quality ingredients that contain vitamins your body can use. These sources are often more expensive, which is why some vitamins are much cheaper than others.
Manna follows all FDA regulations for dietary supplements. This includes transparent labeling, truthful claims and a commitment to quality. Manna aims to provide customers with clear, honest information so they can make the best choices about their health.
What is cGMP? And How Does it Apply to Vitamins?
Current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, are standards set (once again) by the FDA to ensure that products are manufactured according to legal standards.
These guidelines cover everything from the cleanliness of facilities to equipment to employee training. Supplement manufacturers in the US are required to adhere to cGMP standards.
This helps maintain the safety of dietary supplements, as it minimizes the risk of contamination, mislabeling and other manufacturing errors.
This is ALSO why it’s a good idea to buy vitamins from a brand that manufactures in the USA.
While the FDA requires foreign manufacturers who sell in the US to follow cGMP guidelines, it’s important to note that many of these foreign facilities rarely undergo inspections, which can potentially compromise product quality and safety [3].
Key cGMP components include:
- Facility cleanliness and maintenance
- Equipment sanitation and storage
- Employee hygiene and training
- Quality control measures
- Record-keeping at each production stage
At Manna, we are fully committed to adhering to cGMP standards throughout our manufacturing processes. We collaborate closely with our cGMP-certified facility in California, where we have full oversight of production. This means we have direct control over every aspect of manufacturing, from ingredient sourcing to final packaging.
This level of control allows us to ensure the safety and quality of every product we create. When you purchase from Manna, you can trust that each bottle has been rigorously tested for both quality and purity, giving you peace of mind with every purchase.
What is Third-Party Testing? And Why Is it So Important?
While we’ve discussed the FDA’s requirements for vitamin companies, a crucial aspect of ensuring the quality and safety of dietary supplements is the self-regulation that many reputable brands implement. One of the key ways they do this is through third-party testing.
Third-party testing means that a brand sends its products to independent laboratories that have no affiliation with the company. These labs test the supplements for factors such as:
- The exact amount of each ingredient
- The presence of harmful contaminants (such as heavy metals or toxins)
- Accurate labeling, ensuring the claims on the product match what’s inside
This independent verification process plays a crucial role in building consumer trust. When a product undergoes third-party testing, consumers know that the results aren’t influenced by the brand itself, giving an additional level of transparency.
Since the FDA doesn’t require dietary supplements to be approved before hitting the market, third-party testing acts as a critical extra layer of accountability. It ensures that the supplements are potent, safe, and exactly what the label says they are—offering peace of mind to the consumer.
Third-party testing is a core aspect of Manna’s production process, and we are committed to providing only the highest-quality supplements to our customers.
Every batch of liposomal vitamins produced by Manna undergoes extensive testing by impartial, independent labs. These third-party labs check for:
- Nutrient potency and concentration
- Safety and purity of ingredients
- Accurate labeling to ensure our products match what’s listed on the bottle
Thanks to our near-constant testing and strict quality controls, Manna customers can rest assured that they are getting exactly what they read on the label—and nothing less. This extra layer of verification helps us maintain our commitment to transparency, trust, and delivering effective, safe, and potent supplements.
FAQs and Customer Concerns
Vitamin regulations are a complex topic. We know that in the end, you just want to understand whether you’re getting a safe and effective product. Find the answers below.
Is the FDA involved in the approval of supplements before they hit the market?
No, the FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are sold. The FDA technically “oversees” supplement safety and labeling requirements. But in reality, companies are responsible for ensuring product safety before market release. The FDA monitors products on the market after they are released, but it’s not always good at policing harmful products [4]. For this reason, it’s important to do your research before choosing a supplement brand.
What should I look for on labels to ensure product quality?
When checking supplement labels, the first thing to look for is evidence of regulatory standards like “cGMP” or “third-party tested.” Also, make sure that the vitamins are manufactured in the USA. Next, check for the exact amounts of each nutrient and their sources. The nutrient source appears in parentheses directly next to the name of the nutrient on the supplement facts label. Do a quick Google search of each source to find out whether it has high or low bioavailability.
How can I trust that a vitamin product is safe and effective?
The best way to trust a vitamin company is to do your own research. Look for products from reputable companies that follow cGMP guidelines and use third-party testing. Then, do a little sleuthing on their website to understand who they are, where they come from and which ingredients they use in their products. If you want to go a step further, send them an email with your concerns. Trustworthy companies will be happy to talk to you about their products or even give you a call. At Manna, we love it when customers call in to chat about vitamins. We’re kind of obsessed with our liposomal supplements—we take them every day! Get in touch with us anytime if you have any questions.
When it Comes to Vitamins, The Most Important Standards Are Your Own
When it comes to vitamins, the most important standards are your own. It’s not just about getting more nutrients—it’s about ensuring that what you’re putting into your body is safe, effective, and worth your investment.
While the FDA’s role and adherence to cGMP standards ensure a baseline level of safety, these regulations only scratch the surface. To truly feel confident in the supplements you choose, look for brands that prioritize transparency and rigorous testing.
Brands like Manna take it a step further by sending their products for third-party testing, ensuring that the supplements you’re taking meet the highest standards for potency, safety, and accuracy. This added layer of accountability ensures that the products you trust are delivering on their promises.
It’s crucial to recognize that third-party testing, quality control, and sourcing high-quality ingredients come with a cost—and that cost is reflected in the price you pay for your supplements.
It might be tempting to opt for cheaper options, but lower prices often come with significant trade-offs.
Supplements that aren’t subject to rigorous manufacturing or testing standards could contain lower concentrations of the active ingredients you need—or worse, they could include harmful fillers or impurities.
Spending 20% less on a low-quality supplement that doesn’t deliver the expected results is essentially wasting 100% of your money.
When it comes to your health, quality and transparency matter most.
That’s why Manna prioritizes both at every stage of our production process.
We believe in creating vitamins that work, and we take every necessary step to ensure they do. We adhere to all FDA regulations, operate our own cGMP manufacturing facility, and engage in thorough third-party testing.
But that’s just the beginning.
Our supplements are crafted by experts who carefully select the most bioavailable nutrient sources. We’ve even developed our own liposomal delivery system that enhances absorption, helping your body absorb up to 10x more nutrients with every dose.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about Manna’s commitment to crafting the best vitamins available, don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to help!
FAQ
Third-party testing is when an independent lab verifies the quality, potency, and safety of vitamins. It builds consumer trust by ensuring products meet high standards.
No, the FDA does not pre-approve vitamins. Instead, they monitor products on the market to ensure safety and truthful labeling.
cGMP stands for Current Good Manufacturing Practices. It’s a set of FDA guidelines that ensure vitamins are produced safely and consistently.
Vitamins vary in effectiveness due to differences in ingredient quality and bioavailability, which impacts how well your body can absorb nutrients.
TIP!: Look for Liposomal Delivery – this improves bioavailability, which means you’re getting vitamins where they need to be going!
Look for evidence of third-party testing, cGMP compliance, and transparent labeling. Trusted brands often share details about their manufacturing processes.
Check for cGMP certification, third-party testing, nutrient sources, and manufacturing location. These factors indicate higher quality standards.
Yes, third-party testing adds an extra layer of quality assurance, verifying ingredient potency and purity, which can make supplements more effective.
Sources:
- https://customcompounding.com.au/stop-buying-cheap-vitamins-heres-why/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2407766/
- https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-103611
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4330859/
