Several major brands, retailers, and social media platforms have pulled various supplements from their shelves following a safety investigation. It was discovered that some supplements being sold online contain up to 12.5 times the recommended safe upper limit of popular vitamins and minerals, as reported by Which?.
In their examination, consumer safety experts focused on Vitamin D, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, and Zinc supplements available for purchase on well-known platforms like AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Superdrug, Temu, and TikTok Shop.
While the NHS recommends a daily intake of Vitamin D to be 10 micrograms (µg) for adults, with a safe upper limit of 100µg, some platforms were found to be selling Nuke Nutrition 10,000 IU (250µg) vitamin D3 supplements. Nuke Nutrition promptly withdrew the product for investigation. Additionally, vitamin D3 supplements in 50,000 IU doses were found on AliExpress, significantly surpassing the recommended daily dose.
Exceeding the advised dose of certain vitamins and minerals can lead to severe health issues, such as hypercalcaemia. Which? discovered Vitamin D supplements for children with doses well above the recommended levels. For instance, Temu was selling Pslalae’s “Growth” and “Height Growth Maximiser” supplements containing 2,500 IU (62.5µg) of vitamin D3.
Regarding Vitamin A, the NHS suggests a daily intake of no more than 1500µg, while the European Food Safety Authority has advised a limit of 3000µg to support vision and overall health. Platforms like Etsy, TikTok Shop, and eBay were selling 25,000 IU or 7,500µg vitamin A supplements from the brand Mother Nature.
In the case of Vitamin B6, consumers are recommended to consume no more than 10mg, yet Which? found doses of 100mg on platforms like Temu, Solgar, and Holland & Barrett. Holland & Barrett withdrew the product following Which?’s alert. Similarly, some zinc supplements were found to exceed the recommended daily intake, leading to potential health risks.
Sue Davies, head of food policy at Which?, expressed concern over the availability of supplements with dangerously high doses and called for better regulation in the industry to protect consumers. Various platforms and brands responded to the findings by either withdrawing the products or stating their commitment to complying with regulations and ensuring consumer safety.