Dishonest Labeling of Synthetic Supplements as "Natural" Have you ever seen a vitamin label that says something like, “Vitamin C from Natural Sources”? What exactly does that mean? With that kind of claim, most of us would think the product is derived from oranges, grapefruit, cherries—some kind of fruit with a high Vitamin C content. After all, natural is natural. Well, you would be wrong. Welcome to the convoluted world of FDA-approved supplement labeling! Most “natural source” Vitamin C is made from corn corn sugar, and labeling it as such is completely legal. Although corn sugar is a cheap, nutrient-deficient refined sugar, and represents the direct opposite of wholesome, it is the basis for manufacturing synthetic ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid is, in turn, allowed to be marketed as “Vitamin C” even though it is just an isolated portion of the whole vitamin. (A whole vitamin includes many “co-factors” to make it complete and absorbable.) This is why on most Vitamin C products you see the source as “ascorbic acid” rather than a food. The reasoning behind the FDA permitting this is that the bureaucrats who devise these regulations define natural as anything that originally comes from nature—no matter how much it has been adulterated and restructured. This includes chemicals—since they originally, at some point, were derived from nature. Obviously, using this broad definition, almost anything can be listed as natural, since most synthesized products were originally created by human manipulation of some kind of natural material. And the bogus claims get even worse. Once again using Vitamin C as an example… some labels will claim that the product has additional nutrients, so you may see a Vitamin C product with labeling similar to this: “With bioflavonoids and rutin!” While these words sound good, they are typically just synthesized versions of some of the additional co-factors found in the natural vitamin complex. Adding these co-factors gives the manufacturer the legal right to print on the label, “Vitamin C Complex.” However, it still does not contain ALL the co-factors needed to make a complete Vitamin C, nor does it mean that the co-factors it does contain were derived from food (what most people would consider natural). This common, and legal, marketing practice is done solely because of cost. Making vitamins from foods is expensive, and the product is bulkier. Making microscopic portions of synthesized chemicals in a lab allows a manufacturer to create high-dose, fractionated, vitamins at a low cost. But no one would buy it if the label said, “Synthetic Chemical Vitamin Parts,” so creative labeling must come into play to make it marketable. And it works. After all, any reasonable person would conclude—based on the “natural source” labeling—that it is in fact really natural. All of this just proves that savvy, nutrition-minded consumers must educate themselves. Do not leave your health to a government-designed-and-approved labeling system! Below are a few examples to watch for when attempting to ascertain whether certain vitamins are food-based or synthetic. Legally, manufacturers are not required to list the source from which a product is derived, so, typically, you will only see the chemical name of the single vitamin. (We have added the common source in parenthesis.)
On the other hand, food supplement manufacturers which produce their products from a food source, will generally list on the label the actual foods from which the vitamins in their product came. For example, a “whole-food” Vitamin C product will actually list Orange, Grapefruit, Acerola Cherry, or some other food proven to contain substantial amounts of Vitamin C. In general, the label is not the most reliable place to look to determine if the vitamins contained inside are of a food source or of synthetic origin. Most whole-food vitamin manufacturers understand the benefit of food-source supplements, and they are proud of it; hence, they want their product’s origin plainly stated, and attempt to do so. However, synthetic supplement manufacturers are experts at marketing their products to appear food-based and truly natural, so it can be difficult to know for sure. If the label is not clear as to the source of the vitamins being purchased, the only absolute way to determine the origin is to contact the manufacturing company and ask the following question: What is the food source of the nutrients in your product? If the response is anything other than a list of foods, you will know it is synthetic. If they supply a list of foods, remember even that can be deceiving as they may simply be supplying a list of foods that individual vitamins were originally synthesized from. So a follow up question should be asked: What was the method of extracting the vitamins from the food? Asking, “Are your vitamins natural?” is not a good question, because they will always answer, “yes,” and legally can, even if it is the synthetic version (as per above). You should be suspicious when your questions are answered with something like, “What you’re asking is proprietary company information.” All a manufacturer has to divulge is a list of food ingredients, not precise amounts contained in their formula. Another method—though not scientific, conclusive proof—for determining whether a particular supplement is synthetic is to observe the color of the urine. When a synthetic product is consumed, the urine will usually turn bright yellow, and often takes on a chemical odor. This is because the synthetic compounds are being washed out, unused. In fact, the body is working very hard to expel what it recognizes for the most part as foreign substances. Whole food vitamins and minerals, on the other hand, are highly absorbable and most of it is retained and used by the body. |
