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Does your calcium supplement or orange juice contain the correct amount of calcium?
The Sensible Nutrition Connection, Inc. signed up with an organization, called ConsumerLab, whose mission is to independently evaluate products that affect health and nutrition.
ConsumerLab.com purchased 35 brands of calcium-containing products, several of which also contained other vitamins and/or minerals such as magnesium and vitamin D. These products were tested to determine whether:
they possessed their claimed amount of calcium and
lacked potentially harmful levels of lead and certain other metals
The group of products tested were:
22 non-chewable calcium tablets, softgels, or syrups;
4 chewable antacid tablets;
2 adult chewable tablets or soft chews;
5 children's chewable tablets; and
2 calcium fortified orange juices.
Of these, four brands failed testing: two were non-chewable tablets, one was a syrup, and one was a caplet. All four of these failed due to low calcium levels, respectively having no more than 53%, 91%, 82%, and 61% of their claimed amounts of calcium.
Three of the four products that did not pass were designated "USP," indicating a claim by the manufacturer/distributor that the product was produced according to the standards set by the United States Pharmacopeia. The USP, however, does not verify that products bearing the USP designation meet these standards, which includes the amount of calcium in the product.
None of the products failed testing for exceeding contamination levels for lead or the other metals evaluated. In fact, all of the children's products, antacids, juices, and adult chewable products had less than one microgram of lead per gram of calcium, as did most of the other products - well below the standard limit of 7.5 micrograms of lead per gram of calcium.
Listed here alphabetically by name are the products that passed ConsumerLab.com's independent testing of calcium supplements and calcium-fortified products.
The Sensible Nutrition Connection, Inc. signed up with an organization, called ConsumerLab, whose mission is to independently evaluate products that affect health and nutrition.
ConsumerLab.com purchased 35 brands of calcium-containing products, several of which also contained other vitamins and/or minerals such as magnesium and vitamin D. These products were tested to determine whether:
they possessed their claimed amount of calcium and
lacked potentially harmful levels of lead and certain other metals
The group of products tested were:
22 non-chewable calcium tablets, softgels, or syrups;
4 chewable antacid tablets;
2 adult chewable tablets or soft chews;
5 children's chewable tablets; and
2 calcium fortified orange juices.
Of these, four brands failed testing: two were non-chewable tablets, one was a syrup, and one was a caplet. All four of these failed due to low calcium levels, respectively having no more than 53%, 91%, 82%, and 61% of their claimed amounts of calcium.
Three of the four products that did not pass were designated "USP," indicating a claim by the manufacturer/distributor that the product was produced according to the standards set by the United States Pharmacopeia. The USP, however, does not verify that products bearing the USP designation meet these standards, which includes the amount of calcium in the product.
None of the products failed testing for exceeding contamination levels for lead or the other metals evaluated. In fact, all of the children's products, antacids, juices, and adult chewable products had less than one microgram of lead per gram of calcium, as did most of the other products - well below the standard limit of 7.5 micrograms of lead per gram of calcium.
Listed here alphabetically by name are the products that passed ConsumerLab.com's independent testing of calcium supplements and calcium-fortified products.