CHARLOTTE — Approximately 1 in 3 kids under age 19 regularly take a dietary supplement, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But do kids’ vitamins actually contain what they say on the label? Consumer Reports tested popular children’s vitamins for heavy metals and label accuracy. Here’s what parents need to know before giving their child a daily vitamin.
Cold and flu season is here, and some parents may reach for a children’s vitamin to help keep their kids’ immune systems strong. But a new Consumer Reports investigation found that the vitamin’s label may not always tell the full story.
CR tested 21 kids’ vitamins, checking the amounts of 12 vitamins and minerals. It also tested each product for heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. The reassuring news is that every vitamin CR tested is safe to take or keep taking. Even though trace amounts of heavy metals were detected in all of them, they were all well below CR experts’ level of concern for heavy metals.
But when it comes to label accuracy, every product tested had at least one nutrient at a higher or lower level than the label claimed. In some cases, the amount was as much as 500% higher.
Vitamins sometimes look and taste like candy, but taking too many can be dangerous. Supplement overdose is among the five top causes of poisoning in children five and under. Make sure you choose a vitamin for your child’s age, follow the recommended dosage, and keep them out of reach of small children.
Consumer Reports contacted the companies for comment. Many told CR they take rigorous steps to ensure the safety and quality of children’s vitamins. Some companies said they use outside labs to verify product quality and safety. Some said they have invested in internal testing, while at least two companies said they use both internal and outside testing.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says most kids don’t need a daily vitamin. If you do choose to supplement, read vitamin labels carefully, and look for third-party certification seals showing that products have been independently tested for safety and quality.
Before starting a supplement, talk to your pediatrician. Health experts say that vitamins can be helpful for some children with a diagnosed deficiency, a very limited diet, certain medical conditions, or food allergies.
Companies Respond
CR shared test results with the manufacturers of the 21 kids’ vitamins in our tests and asked them for more information on how they test for heavy metal contaminants and whether they verify the nutrient levels in their products. CR also asked whether they intentionally add nutrients beyond the labeled amount to last through the product’s shelf life, an industry practice known as “overages.” CR heard back from most of the companies.
Safety and Quality
Many companies told CR that they take rigorous steps to ensure the safety and quality of their products, especially those intended for children. As one example: “Hiya is committed to producing high-quality children’s vitamins that parents can trust,” said a company spokesperson. Renzo’s and First Day also shared their commitment to quality and transparency.
A spokesperson for Nature’s Way told CR that their testing programs are “risk-based and product-specific,” stating that the company maintains a comprehensive quality assurance program designed to ensure the identity, safety, purity, and potency of its products.
When asked about their testing processes, four companies (Hiya, MaryRuth’s, Nestlé, and Olly) shared that they use external labs to verify the quality and safety of their products. Four more companies (Nature’s Way, Piping Rock, and Renzo’s) shared that they have invested in internal testing, and two companies (Nature Made and SmartyPants) shared that they do both. Not all companies specifically commented on their testing, and some did not respond to our questions about testing.
“At SmartyPants Vitamins, we rely on rigorous testing and internal and external guidelines to support the safety and quality of our products. Every lot is tested at our qualified, ISO-certified lab for safety, quality, and dietary ingredient levels using methods validated for a gummy matrix,” said a spokesperson for SmartyPants. The spokesperson also noted that both products in CR’s tests are certified by NSF, “with annual independent NSF testing for potency and contaminants, including heavy metals, as part of maintaining certification.”
A customer service representative for Nature Made (owned by Pharmavite, which also makes MegaFood) told CR: “Nature Made has been in business for 50 years, and we are known for the quality and efficacy of our products. Our Quality Control team performs rigorous testing on all raw materials and the finished product to ensure our products are made to the highest standards, including verification by USP (U.S. Pharmacopeia), an independent verification for potency and purity.”
Several kids’ vitamins in CR’s tests hold third-party certifications such as NSF or USP verification. We contacted the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association that represents several supplement makers included in our tests, to ask if certification is something they recommend.
“CRN encourages companies to take advantage of the third-party verification programs that exist for dietary supplements,” said spokesperson Jeff Ventura. “These programs provide an added, independent verification of the high quality of the products.” However, the absence of a third-party seal is not an indication of poor quality, Ventura says. “Many reputable supplement brands employ their own internal sophisticated testing and auditing systems to assure their consumers of high-quality products.”
Heavy Metals
No children’s vitamins in CR’s tests exceeded our scientists’ health-based level of concern for heavy metals, though we did still detect trace amounts in the majority of products. Several companies told CR that they compare their finished products with California’s Proposition 65 thresholds—the most protective benchmarks in the U.S.
“MaryRuth’s works closely with its manufacturers to maintain strict controls over ingredient sourcing, formulation, and finished-product testing, including formulating vitamins and minerals to remain below applicable NIH ULs and to ensure that heavy metals, if present, are below California Proposition 65 safe harbor levels,” said a spokesperson for MaryRuth’s.
Olly told CR that the company uses “California Proposition 65 limits to establish our finished-product specifications and test products during development, before launch and through ongoing quality monitoring. All results provided by Consumer Reports fall within Olly’s established specifications.”
“SmartyPants tests every finished-product lot for heavy metals and establish release specifications using applicable California Proposition 65 limits,” a spokesperson said, noting that they test both raw materials and finished products.
A spokesperson for Costco, which makes Kirkland Signature supplements, told CR that the product in CR’s tests is evaluated for heavy metals before being sold. “We reviewed the heavy-metal levels reported by Consumer Reports in the context of the product and available safety benchmarks, and we reviewed our internal testing results and documentation and did not identify a product safety concern. Specific internal limits are not publicly disclosed,” the spokesperson said.
Nutrient Overages
Numerous companies told CR that they intentionally add higher amounts of certain nutrients to ensure they’ll remain present throughout the product’s shelf life.
USP tolerance thresholds account for some overages in gummy formats and in capsules, tablets, and powders, reflecting this common industry practice. Vitamin C overages in gummies, for example, can go up to 250% of the labeled amount. We found that One A Day’s Kids Multi Gummies had vitamin C levels at 531 percent of the labeled amount. Vitamin B9 levels in this product were at 504 percent of the labeled amount, when the USP range caps at 245 percent.
A spokesperson for Bayer, which makes One A Day and Flintstones supplements, told CR: “Bayer stands behind the quality and safety of its One A Day and Flintstones Vitamins products. We intentionally formulate certain nutrients above the labeled amount to help ensure they maintain appropriate levels throughout the product’s shelf life, consistent with industry practice. Our extensive evidence-based testing shows that nutrients remain within the established safe range of what is stated on the label.” In CR’s tests, Flintstones had the majority of nutrients tested below the USP tolerance range of 90 percent. “Product quality is a top priority for Bayer. We can confirm this batch tested by CR met industry, regulatory, and safety requirements at time of release. We believe the CR test result is an outlier, and we cannot determine a specific reason for the discrepancy of their findings without further investigation,” the Bayer spokesperson said.
In CR’s tests, Centrum Kids MultiGummies had three nutrients above the USP tolerance range, as well as vitamin B5 levels that were 564 percent of the labeled amount, though a USP range does not exist for gummy formulations with B5.
A spokesperson for Haleon, which makes Centrum, said: “We stand behind the quality and safety of all our products, including Centrum Kids MultiGummies, which are backed by rigorous testing before and after products reach store shelves. We conduct batch testing to help confirm the quality and safety of our products, as well as ongoing testing of select batches throughout the product’s shelf life to monitor quality, safety, and nutrient levels.”
Different Testing Methods
A few companies questioned CR’s findings or told CR that their internal testing, whether for the same lots of products as in CR’s tests or more broadly, didn’t match CR’s results.
Amazon (whose in-house brand is Mama Bear) stated that its finished products undergo rigorous quality control testing to ensure they meet the labeled potency specifications throughout their shelf life and challenged CR’s methodology and results, saying the findings “do not accurately reflect this product’s composition.”
A spokesperson for Nestlé Health Science, which makes Garden of Life and Pure Encapsulations, told CR: “Our technical assessment noted differences between the analytical methods reported by Consumer Reports and those used by the qualified third-party laboratories supporting our testing programs. These methodological considerations should be taken into account when evaluating and comparing the reported results.” The spokesperson said that, based on the company’s experience testing this product category, historical testing data, and its established testing program, they “remain confident in the quality, safety, and nutritional profile” of the products in CR’s tests.
Renzo’s, which is produced by Solara Labs, shared that their internal testing uses a different method for testing their melting tablets: “Our Renzo’s Multivitamin with Iron is formulated in a specialized orally dissolving dietary supplement matrix tablet which may present unique analytical challenges related to extraction efficiency and analyte recovery,” a spokesperson said, noting also that analytical results for vitamins and minerals may vary between laboratories.
SmartyPants also shared that they use a different methodology for testing certain nutrients in their gummy formulas, notably vitamin A, which, in CR’s tests, had one lot that landed below the USP tolerance threshold of 90 percent. “Our testing uses a USP-based method designed to account for the specific form of vitamin A used in our formulation,” the spokesperson said.
CR’s scientists remain confident that the testing methods used are appropriate for the different supplement formulations in our tests.
Our analysis found that two products, including those from Equate (Walmart) and NaturesPlus, had some nutrient levels that landed above the tolerable upper intake limit for some age groups, even though the vitamins were intended for children of those ages.
A spokesperson for Walmart told CR: “We are committed to providing safe, high-quality products, and work continuously with our suppliers to review and help ensure standards are met.”
We did not receive a response from Natural Organics, the maker of NaturesPlus supplements.
Piping Rock (which makes Li’l Critters and Nature’s Truth) responded to our outreach to confirm CR’s results calculations but didn’t include a comment for publication.
Though we received a customer service response from Nature Made, we didn’t hear back from parent company Pharmavite, which also makes MegaFood supplements, after repeated requests for comment.
Ventura, the spokesperson for CRN, acknowledged that testing nutrient levels in finished dietary supplement products is complex.
“The accuracy and reliability of analytical results can be influenced by numerous factors, including the product’s formulation, ingredient interactions, nutrient forms, and the presence of other components that may interfere with testing... While manufacturers are responsible for ensuring their products meet applicable quality standards, it is important that conclusions about nutrient content are based on scientifically appropriate testing methods that account for these complexities,” Ventura said.
“CR understands that product formulations can be complex and provide potential interferences. That’s why CR mitigates these issues with quality control tests, such as matrix spikes, and by using ISO-accredited laboratories and validated methods. We also test multiple lots to see if we get consistent results,” says Boring, who led CR’s analysis.