The Mystery of Supplement Labeling

I think everyone at some point has taken an interest in the supplement market. Many of us have also compared labels of competing brands, and have been completely confused by each products way of describing its fine details. Even seasoned veterans of the supplement market can become mislead by the various descriptions. I myself have just recently become aware of a few practices that may have caused me to purchase one product under the assumption it was providing an amount I was interested in using. I hope these next few paragraphs will enable the consumer to be better informed.

Powder Supplements (Protein)

• Always look for “serving size”. Many companies advertise on the front of the container “40g whey protein”, but that may be in 2+ scoops of product while a higher quality competitor may provide the same amount in a single scoop.
• Be aware of how many grams each serving/scoop contains. Many companies use a traditional 31g scoop, but many others do not. Do some minor math and make sure you are getting the best product for the best price.
• Ingredient listings are your friend. Listings are designed from highest amount of product, to least amount per serving. You may see “Whey Protein” on the front label, and then notice it’s halfway down the list in the ingredient listing. Also, there are different degrees of quality for proteins. Whey isolate, Whey Concentrate, Hydrolyzed Whey protein… The list goes on and on. Be sure to do a little research before you make a decision, and please if you go to a retail chain don’t fall for sales mumbo jumbo. Be the informed consumer, or use sites like Bodybuilding.com, they provide valid information from professionals in the field along with customer reviews.
• Be aware of fat, cholesterol, sodium, etc… Some powders are great, but then are loaded with 60mg or more of cholesterol. This doesn’t sound like much, until you take 3-4 servings per day. Many protein powders contain zero fat/ cholesterol, just skim over what is offered and I’m sure you will find a few.

Other Deliveries (Tablets, Capsules, Caplets, etc…)

• This section was taken from ISSA’s sports nutrition certification manual, they did an excellent job at explaining the details so I will be pulling a majority of the following information from there.
• Ex. 1: Each Capsule Contains:              L-Arginine .........500mg                                                   

                                                                        L-Ornithine …………. 500mg

1. Pretty straightforward, each Capsule will provide 500mg of each compound.

• Ex. 2: Each Capsule Contains:            L-Arginine hydrochloride …… 500mg

                                                                        L-Ornithine hydrochloride …… 500mg

1. This is a little more deceiving, what is being stated is that there is 500mg of the entire compound L-arginine hydrochloride, not just the arginine. You may only receive 60% of the total being actual arginine.

• Ex. 3: Each Capsule Contains:        L-Arginine(HCL or Hydrochloride) … 500mg

                                                                     L-Ornithine(HCL or Hydrochloride) .. 500mg

1. Parentheses informs you that the capsule contains 500mg or arginine and ornithine in the form of hydrochloride, which means you are getting the full 500mg per capsule as in example 1.

As you can see the supplement market has many ways of describing their products. Hopefully the above information will allow you to be better informed on what to look for, and allow for more successful purchases. I hope this information helps, and as always if you have something to add please comment.

Michael Petrinjak CFT

References

1. “Sports Nutrition, Third Edition” 2010. Dan Gastelu, MS, MFS. Frederick       C.Hatfield, PhD.