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A vitamin a day may do more harm than good (@ msnbc)

MSNBC points to a study on multivitamins performed by ConsumerLab (an independent tester of nutrition products, visit their about page for more) on 39 products, 21 of which are available in US and Canada.  Of those 21, only 10 met the stated claims on the labels and other criteria set by ConsumerLab (including the time it takes for the pill to break apart).  Failures of note included:

The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women - contaminated with 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily dose of 2 pills.

Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears - contained more than twice the amount of daily tolerated vitamin A for kids, which can lead to bone weakening and liver problems.

Freaking lead in multivitamins!  What was their response?

David Morrison, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at The Vitamin Shoppe, said his company’s products are all tested more than once, including screening for lead, and he questioned the new results. “It would be very surprising to me if this were actually true,” he said.

Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group in Washington, D.C., that represents supplement manufacturers, said that if the findings on lead and vitamin A are, in fact, accurate, “that is not acceptable for the industry. … If we had a serious issue of safety, we’d be hearing concerns from consumers in large numbers and we’re not.”

One more reason to eat healthy - get as many of your vitaimins from foods as possible.  I’ll have to do some research myself to learn where to find the important ones, and in what levels.

Here’s the report excerpt from MSNBC’s article:

Multivitamins that met standards:

• Centrum Silver
• Member’s Mark
• Complete Multi One A Day Women’s
• Flinstones Complete

Those that failed:

• The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for women: Contaminated with lead
• Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears: Had twice the labeled amount of vitamin A
• Nature’s Plus Especially Yours for Women: Took twice as long as allowed to disintegrate
• AARP Maturity Formula: Took nearly twice as long as allowed to disintegrate
• Eniva VIBE: Had only 54 percent of claimed vitamin
• A Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs: Contained lead

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Comments:

7 Responses to “Is your daily vitamin killing you?”

1. April Kolesar (Check me out!) on 20 Jan 2007 at 7:07 am #
   
   

   I found out that the samples they had tested were ones that were almost expired (vitamins weaken as they age). This was verified with consumer labs and Eniva, by lot number. Apparentlly the samples left the company at full-potency, but of course they must’ve weakened before they were tested. Eniva’s labs are visited randomly and by appointment by the USDA and FDA, and of course the FDA is VERY strict about labeling, so they have proof that that particular lot left Eniva with full-potency, and I’m sure that all other Eniva Vibe bottles/samples contain the labeled amount when they are fresh.

   I’ve heard that Eniva is sending them a fresh batch of Vibe to test (since Eniva makes all of their Vibe fresh before they ship it out to customers, this would be more accurate).

   If you have any questions, feel free to email me at getfour@gmail.com
   

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2. Cris Harshman (Check me out!) on 20 Jan 2007 at 3:15 pm #
   
   

   It’s good to hear companies are working with ConsumerLab to determine the accuracy of the report and what can be done about it. Hopefully ConsumerLab will conduct a follow-up in the near future.
   

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3. Brenda Kay Patrick, RN (Check me out!) on 28 Jun 2007 at 10:26 pm #
   
   

   Eniva’s VIBE liquid supplement is the most dangerous on the market.
   VIBE contains dangerous chloride binders to all of the minerals in the product, which can cause patients with kidney diseases to go into full blown renal failure, thus VIBE KILLS KIDNEYS.
   I am a Surgical Intensive Care Registered Nurse of 9 years, and I have cared for many patients with kidney diseases, and VIBE does not have a warning on the label of the bottle. Eniva needs to publicly warn the public that VIBE is contraindicated in any patients who have any form of kidney diseases.
   Brenda Kay Patrick, Registered Nurse
   White Bluff, Tennessee USA
   

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4. Earl Gillespie (Check me out!) on 23 Jul 2007 at 3:49 pm #
   
   

   Thank you for your comment about Vibe. I recently began taking the product and this really raised a red flag with me. Are there any other problems with this product that you know about?

   Sincerely:

   Earl
   

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5. Earl Gillespie (Check me out!) on 26 Jul 2007 at 5:06 pm #
   
   

   Earl again; I have decided that the person that said that vibe is dangerous is lying because she cannot be contacted and is trying to sell a product that is a vibe competitor. The red flag is no longer flying.

   Be Blessed.
   

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6. Cris Harshman (Check me out!) on 4 Jan 2008 at 8:16 am #
   
   

   Earl:

   Thanks for doing some digging. I don’t typically delete comments unless they’re obviously spam, so I haven’t taken down Brenda’s. I do expect, like you have demonstrated, readers to take any comments with a grain of salt. For instance, you can see Brenda’s linked “home page” - viewable by hovering the mouse over her name - routes to mineralsnow . com. Based on that alone, along with her use of RN in her name, immediately makes me suspicious of her claims.
   

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7. Trackbacks on 13 Oct 2008 at 6:58 am #
   
   
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