Comment Re:Headline says "just candy," summary says otherw (Score 1) 143
All of the active ingredients in these supplements, whether gummies or traditional pills, are deliberately over formulated to account for shelf-life. To report on this as some sort of failing, is to deliberately misunderstand how label claims work
If I put 1000 mg of a vitamin into a pill, and label it as containing 1000 mg of that vitamin. Then package it, ship it, and store it for any amount of time in a warehouse or on a store shelf, by the time you open the package to take the supplement it will have less than 1000 mg of that vitamin remaining. These compounds are highly reactive, and have a half-life. They degrade over time, even if stored in perfect conditions, which no product in commerce ever is.
Therefore, these are formulated to contain some sort of safety margin, based on how quickly that vitamin degrades in that specific formulation. If gummies are less protective than traditional pills, then either they will need to have more safety margin to ensure shelf-life claims are met, or they will need to have shorter shelf-life claims. It's the engineers triangle all over again. minimal safety margin, long-shelf life, or convenient form factor... pick 2.
That is why if you check the back of any supplement they report that the values are "guaranteed minimum" values, and not exact doses.
If I put 1000 mg of a vitamin into a pill, and label it as containing 1000 mg of that vitamin. Then package it, ship it, and store it for any amount of time in a warehouse or on a store shelf, by the time you open the package to take the supplement it will have less than 1000 mg of that vitamin remaining. These compounds are highly reactive, and have a half-life. They degrade over time, even if stored in perfect conditions, which no product in commerce ever is.
Therefore, these are formulated to contain some sort of safety margin, based on how quickly that vitamin degrades in that specific formulation. If gummies are less protective than traditional pills, then either they will need to have more safety margin to ensure shelf-life claims are met, or they will need to have shorter shelf-life claims. It's the engineers triangle all over again. minimal safety margin, long-shelf life, or convenient form factor... pick 2.
That is why if you check the back of any supplement they report that the values are "guaranteed minimum" values, and not exact doses.