Private Label Vitamins: Complete Guide For Beginners

Private Label Vitamins: A Complete Guide For Beginners

In October 2016, the Journal of the American Medical Association released research indicating that more than half of Americans use herbal or dietary supplements regularly, indicating a burgeoning private label vitamin business.

In 2018, the Nutrition Business Journal issued research estimating that the global private label vitamin market is worth $128 billion annually. Over 31% of such sales occur in the United States alone.

The word “dietary supplement” is defined in Section 3 of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 as a product (other than tobacco) designed to supplement the diet that bears or includes one or more of the following dietary ingredients:

(A) “a vitamin;

(B) a mineral;

(C) a herb or other botanical;

(D) an amino acid;

(E) a dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake; or

(F) a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of any ingredient described in clause (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E).”

Vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, and enzymes are all examples of dietary supplements. On the market, nutritional supplements are available in the following forms: tablets, capsules, soft gels, gelcaps, powders, and liquids.

These supplements are available in shops and online throughout the United States. They are referred to as “dietary supplements” and contain the following:

vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as “botanical” or “herbal” supplements. These come in various forms and may include plant components, algae, macroscopic fungus, and so forth.

Amino acid derivatives. Amino acids are the “building blocks of proteins” and are required for proper metabolism.
Supplements with enzymes. Enzymes are large proteins that aid in the acceleration of biological processes.

Worldwide, people use nutritional supplements for several reasons. Some seek to replace it due to dietary limitations, medical problems or supplement their current diet to meet their vitamin and mineral requirements. Others take them to increase their energy or even obtain a good night’s sleep. To restore that additional requirement, vitamin supplements are used by prenatal and postnatal women, whereas postmenopausal women use them to compensate for the abrupt reduction in oestrogen levels.

It is recommended that you see a trained dietitian or a medical expert before using any dietary supplements since they might have significant biological consequences. You may even endanger yourself if you have a pre-existing medical problem and use a dietary supplement that harms your body’s internal system.

Additionally, it is prudent to note that dietary supplements are not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or relieve any health condition or illness. They can, at most, assist you in living a better and safer life by enhancing your immunity. Nonetheless, if you have a medical problem, the dietary supplement is not a cure-all.

1.1. Some Common Private Label Vitamins are:

Calcium
Echinacea
Fish Oil
Ginseng
Glucosamine and
Chondroitin Sulphate
Garlic
Vitamin D
St. John’s Wort
Saw Palmetto
Ginkgo
Green Tea

ATTRIBUTES OF PRIVATE LABEL VITAMINS:

2.1. Benefits:

As previously said, private label vitamins are neither a panacea nor a cure-all for any medical condition or disease. However, private label vitamins do have many advantages.

Our bodies require a variety of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients daily to maintain a stable and healthy condition and restore our immune system after normal wear and tear. It isn’t easy to obtain all vital elements only through food consumption and a balanced diet. Private Label Vitamins are not intended to replace your diet or food intake; rather, they are intended to supplement your diet. Taking private label vitamins in addition to your usual diet will assist ensure that you are getting an appropriate supply of important nutrients.

Vitamin D and vitamin C, for example, assist maintain strong and healthy bones and minimise bone abnormalities; folic acid helps lower the chance of particular congenital impairments, and Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils help people with heart disease live a better life. Certain nutrients, like vitamins C and E, zinc, copper, lutein, and zeaxanthin, can help reduce the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (known as AREDS).

As long as you are aware and carefully utilise your private label vitamins, these vitamins may significantly aid in leading a healthy life. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, enhancing athletic performance, and bolstering the immune system are just a few of the numerous advantages of private label vitamins.

While private label vitamins are suitable for anybody regardless of gender, age, or race, they are particularly beneficial for pregnant women, the elderly, and anyone with food allergies or limited diets.

Pregnant women are encouraged to ingest 400 mg of folate daily, either through food or vitamin supplements, as folate protects against congenital disabilities. Folate is a kind of vitamin B required to produce genetic elements such as DNA. It is available in various prenatal vitamins, some of which also include iron, calcium, and potassium.

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, check the labels carefully before taking any vitamin supplements; not all are suitable for pregnant women, nursing mothers, or children.

Elderly individuals require far more vitamins, minerals, and nutrients than younger individuals. Their regular nutritional requirements are calcium and vitamin D for bone health, vitamin B6 for red blood cell production, and vitamin B12 for nerve and red blood cell maintenance.

Individuals with food sensitivities or those on Restricted Diets: Some people are lactose intolerant, while others have peanut allergies, while others have skin allergies triggered by a range of dietary components, while yet others are vegan. Eliminating meat from your diet or avoiding allergenic foods also means omitting vital nutrients included in those items. Private Label Vitamins take care of you by supplementing your diet with the nutrients you were missing.

2.2. Risks:

Bear in mind that even while taking your private label vitamins as recommended and under the supervision of a physician or qualified dietitian, the risks are minimal but not zero. Vitamin supplement side effects may include but are not limited to upset stomach, gas, heartburn, grief, or bloating.

If you do not follow the guidelines for usage or disregard professional advice, vitamin supplements can have several severe health impacts. Nausea, bleeding, severe headaches, and liver damage are all possible side effects of improper vitamin supplement use in rare cases.

For instance, excessive Vitamin A consumption can result in migraines and liver damage and decreased bone strength and congenital abnormalities in babies. In comparison, an overabundance of iron in the bloodstream can cause nausea and vomiting, as well as damage to the liver and other organs. Vitamin D in excess might be harmful to the kidneys. Excess calcium deposits in your arteries obstructing blood flow; excessive usage of the Kava plant might result in liver damage. Soy products might elevate the blood oestrogen level over normal levels.

A Tufts University study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine on April 9, 2019, discovered that daily calcium dosages of more than 1,000 milligrammes (mg) could result in an increased risk of cancer mortality.

2.3. Regulation:

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not permitted to examine dietary supplement products for safety and efficacy before marketing and labelling. Following that, regulation ensures the completed product’s quality, safety, and other characteristics.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adheres to the following regulations when it comes to a completed vitamin supplement product:

Each vitamin supplement, including private label vitamins, must be labelled as a “dietary supplement” or with a phrase that accurately describes the product’s dietary component(s) in place of the term “dietary” (e.g., “iron supplement” or “herbal supplement” or “iron supplement”).

Vitamin supplements must be deemed safe by the FDA before being made available to the general population.

According to the legislation, the maker or seller is not required to demonstrate to the FDA that the claim is accurate or honest about what it purports to be before it appears on the product.

Generally, the FDA’s involvement with a dietary supplement product begins at the product’s introduction to the market. The best moment is when the agency has its first chance to act against a specific product that offers a considerable or unjustifiable risk of sickness or damage, is misbranded or unadulterated.

The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction over dietary supplement advertising, which includes radio and television advertisements.

Once a vitamin supplement is on the market, the FDA is responsible for its safety. They monitor reports of significant adverse events associated with private label vitamin supplement products, as well as adverse events reported voluntarily by customers or health care providers.

The FDA reviews all aspects of your private label vitamin supplement, including product labels, product information, packaging inserts, associated literature, and Internet advertising.

Any significant adverse events reported to the FDA by consumers or health care professionals must be reported to the private label vitamin supplement firms.
Private label vitamin supplement manufacturers and distributors are not required to get FDA clearance before creating or marketing these goods.

Private label vitamin supplement businesses are not permitted to make claims regarding the treatment, diagnosis, cure, or alleviation of any health problems or diseases. It is against the law.

Additionally, private label vitamin supplement firms must adhere to the FDA’s restrictions on monitoring vitamin supplement labelling claims.

2.4. Quality:

The FDA has established Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) that private label vitamin supplement manufacturers must adhere to assure their vitamin supplements’ identification, purity, strength, and composition. These GMPs can be beneficial because they ensure that a private label vitamin supplement company does not formulate a product with the incorrect ingredient (or with an excessive or insufficient amount of the correct ingredient), thereby reducing the risk of contamination or improper packaging and labelling of a supplement product. The FDA inspects establishments that produce private label vitamin supplements periodically.

Numerous independent third-party organisations do quality assurance testing to ensure that the product was made correctly, has the components listed on the package, and does not include any dangerous or poisonous impurities. However, these seals do not imply that a product is safe or effective.

Several third-party organisations that provide quality assurance services include the following:

ConsumerLab.com,
National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International (for Sports-related supplements),
US Pharmacopeia (USP).

2.5. Safety:

Millions of Americans use a variety of multivitamins safely and have no adverse effects.

As previously stated, every vitamin supplement might result in a variety of adverse effects. The risk is never non-existent, and even with careful usage, the risk factor is always low but never none. Side effects from vitamin supplements can occur if you take them in large amounts, substitute them for your prescribed medications, or take a variety of supplements simultaneously.

Combining supplements has the potential to be hazardous and life-threatening. St. John’s wort, for example, can accelerate the breakdown of many pharmaceuticals (birth control pills, chemotherapy medication, HIV or AIDS medication, heart meds, and transplant treatments) and, as a result, lower their overall efficacy. Research also found that mixing St. John’s wort with an antidepressant medicine might have negative side effects, such as an increase in serotonin, a chemical in the brain, the impact of which can be life-threatening.

Furthermore, vitamin supplements such as C and E might impair the efficacy of cancer treatment. Some vitamin supplements have unfavourable side effects before, during, or after surgery. As an example, a rise in the potency of anaesthetics was provided.

Due to microbiological, pesticide, and heavy metal contamination. Or because of the lack of a dietary element stated to be included in the product or more or fewer nutritional substances than authorised by the FDA.

2.6. Ingredients used in Private Label Vitamin:

According to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, the FDA has the authority to withdraw goods from the market if it is determined that they are adulterated (unsafe) or misbranded (the labelling is false or misleading, i.e., the product does not contain the ingredients that the labelling claims to).

Vitamins can be obtained from plant extracts or animal products or synthesised in a laboratory. There is no chemical distinction between refined vitamins derived from plant extracts or animal products and those synthesised in a laboratory. Different laboratories across the globe employ different ways to manufacture synthetic vitamins, as there are several alternative chemical processes to get the required outcome. Most businesses generate commercial vitamins from synthetic laboratory processes, which are less expensive and simpler to produce than natural derivatives.

The following are the most often suggested vitamin supplement ingredients:

Vitamin A: derived from fish liver oil. Chemically, acetone synthesizes vitamin A.
Vitamin C: It is derived from citrus fruits or rose hips. Chemically, Kito acid can synthesize vitamin C.
Vitamin D: derived from the flesh of fatty fish and fish liver oils. Vitamin D synthesis is a multi-stage process that yields the final product as vitamin D3.
Vitamin B12: It is naturally present in foods of animal origin, including fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. The synthetic form of vitamin B12 is cyanocobalamin, which can be converted to methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin.
Magnesium: naturally occurring in pumpkin, spinach, artichoke, soybeans, beans, tofu, brown rice, or nuts. Chemically can be extracted from calcium hydroxide by adding it to seawater to form magnesium hydroxide precipitate.
Calcium: naturally occurring in fortified cereals, milk, cheese, and yoghurt, salty fish, broccoli and kale, nuts and nut butter and, beans and lentils. Salt of calcium can be derived from fossilized coral reefs.
Iron: naturally occurring in nuts, beans, vegetables, and fortified grain products. Chemically, iron can obtain it from ferrous and ferric iron salts, such as ferrous sulfate, ferrous gluconate, ferric citrate, and ferric sulfate.
Folate: naturally derived from dark leafy greens, avocado, beans, and citrus fruits. Bacteria from the substrate, para-amino-benzoic acid (PABA), synthesizes folic acid.

Sometimes vitamin tablets or capsules are combined with some additive that aids in manufacturing or assimilating the vitamin pill into the bloodstream. Such as:

Forgive the proper vitamin bulk and act as filler: Microcrystalline cellulose, lactose, calcium, or maltodextrin are added.
As a lubricant and flow agent: Magnesium stearate or stearic acid and silicon dioxide are added.
As a disintegration agent: Modified cellulose gum or starch are added.
Vitamin tablets or capsules are also usually coated to give the pills a particular colour or flavour. The coatings are mostly made from a cellulose base. The polished appearance comes from the additional layer of carnauba wax.
One may add herbs of various kinds too.

Private Label Vitamin companies also ensure that the ingredients and manufacturing processes follow the guidelines to make halal, kosher, vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO products.

2.7. Manufacturing Method:

The following phases are involved in the production of private label vitamins:

2.7.1. Preliminary inspection:

A third-party distributor provides raw vitamins and other substances, although they may include a Certificate of Analysis. The private label vitamin supplement producer nevertheless analyses all raw materials for identification, potency, and bacterial contamination.

2.7.2 Pre-blended:

Following the testing stage, the raw ingredients are ground into a fine powder. If the components are not finely powdered, they are processed in a mill and finely granulated.

2.7.3 Wet granulation:

Particle size is critical for vitamin tables because it determines how effectively the formula will go through the tablet machine. When the raw vitamins from the distributor’s mill are too large for tabletting, a wet granulation stage is required.

The vitamin powder is combined with different cellulose particles and wetted before being dried in a dryer. After drying, the pieces are sized by passing them through a mill.

2.7.4 Weighing and mixing:

When all the vitamin ingredients are ready, a worker weighs them on a scale and pours them into a mixer.

2.7.5 Encapsulating machine:

After laboratory technicians accept the combination, employees transport it to the encapsulating machine and deposit it into a hopper. One hopper contains the vitamin combination, while the second hopper contains full gelatin capsules. The machine divides the capsules in half, and the tops of the capsules are forced down onto the filled bottoms.

2.7.6. Polishing and inspection:

The vitamin capsules are then placed in a polishing machine, where they are cycled on a conveyor belt by a succession of soft brushes. The gentle brushes clean any extra dust from the external surface of the vitamins. The polished capsules are poured onto an examination table where all sides of the vitamin are visible for the inspector to eliminate any excessively long pills, split, dimpled, and so on.

2.7.7 Tableting:

A tabletting machine is used to create vitamin pills. The machine’s pressure compresses vitamin powder into a little tablet. The tablets are then transported to the coating area by being placed on a vibrating belt, which helps to remove any loose dust particles.

2.7.8 Coating:

Coating a vitamin pill makes it simpler to swallow, hides bad taste, and adds a pleasing colour. Some have an enteric coating, which is a pH-sensitive chemical coating that can withstand stomach acid. For identification, tablets of the same size and shape are often coated in two distinct colours.

2.7.9 Packaging:

The packing is done in numerous phases and using various equipment. The vitamins are routed through a series of devices that do not come into contact with humans. The pills or capsules are placed in a bottle, sealed, capped, labelled, and wrapped before being distributed.