Vitamin D plays a critical role in bone health and higher levels in the blood are associated with reduced risk of heart attack, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and other conditions. Vitamin D has become one of the most popular supplements in the U.S. with sales rising from $72 million in 2006 to $429 million in 2009 according the Nutrition Business Journal. of its readers in 2010, used by 56% of respondents. evaluated vitamin D supplements as well as those containing calcium and/or vitamin K. Results were released today in three separate Product Review reports on Vitamin D, Calcium, and Vitamin K supplements. Two other products containing combinations of vitamins D and K and calcium were found to be contaminated with lead: One contained 5.2 mcg of lead in a suggested serving of 4 capsules, and the other, a powder, contained 4.1 mcg in a suggested serving of 2 scoops. The FDA permits supplement manufacturers to set their own limits on lead in their products, but one state, California, requires a warning label on supplements that contain more than 0.5 mcg of lead per daily serving (or 1.0 mcg of lead in supplements that contain 1,000 mg or more of calcium).
Neither of the products with lead contamination had this warning label. Both also failed to disclose soy as a potential allergen. They contained a form of vitamin K2 called MK-7, which is made from fermented soybean. because it listed potential benefits of vitamin D but failed to provide the required FDA disclaimer for such claims.The report also includes information about 3 products that were not tested but are similar to others that passed testing. The Calcium Supplements Review and the Vitamin K Supplements Review include additional products specific to those nutrients as well as combination products. Products covered in the three new reports are 21st Century D-1000, 21st Century Calcium 600 + D, AlgaeCal Plus, Caltrate 600 + D Plus Minerals, Carlson Baby D Drops, Citracal Calcium Citrate + D3 Petites, Country Life Vitamin D3, CVS Pharmacy Natural Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc, DaVinci Laboratories of Vermont Vitamin K2 Plus, DEVA Vegan Vitamin D 800 IU, Flintstones Plus Bone Building Support
, GNC Vitamin D-3 1000, GNC Vitamin D-3 2000, Hero Yummi Bears Calcium + Vitamin D3, Isotonix Calcium Plus, Jamieson D, Julian Whitaker, M.D. Osteo Essentials, Julian Whitaker, M.D. Vitamin D, KAL Vitamin K 100 mcg, Kirkland Signature Vitamin D3 2000 IU (Costco), Kirkman Calcium/Magnesium Liquid, Life Extension Vitamin D3, LifeTime Calcium Magnesium Citrate, Li'l Critters Calcium Gummy Bears with Vitamin D, Mason natural Vitamin K 100 mcg, Member's Mark Calcium 600 mg with Vitamin D3 (Sam's Club), Nature's Bounty Natural Vitamin K-2, Nature's Bounty Super Strength D-2000 IU, Nature Made Calcium 750 mg+D+K, Nature Made Maximum Strength Vitamin D 2000 IU, Nature's Life D-2 2,000 IU, Nature's Sunshine Vitamin D3, New Chapter Bone Strength take care, NSI Vitamin D Drops, Posture-D Calcium with Vitamin D and Magnesium, Pure Essence Labs Ionic-Fizz Super D-K Calcium Plus, Puritan's Pride Absorbable Calcium 1200 mg with D 1000 IU, Puritan's Pride Natural Vitamin K-2, Puritan's Pride Super High Potency Vitamin D 2000 IU, Rainbow Light Vitamin D3 1,000 IU Sunny Gummies, Rite Aid Vitamin D-3, Schiff Bone Care Super Calcium, Shaklee Osteomatrix, Solgar Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D3
, Solgar Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) 1000 IU, Spring Valley Liquid Filled Absorbable Calcium 1200 mg plus 1,000 IU Vitamin D3 (Wal-mart), Standard Process Calcium Lactate, Swanson High-Potency Dry Vitamin D-3, Trader Joe's Vitamin D, Viactiv Calcium Plus D, vitafusion Vitamin D3, Vitamin Shoppe Calcium Citrate plus Magnesium and Vitamin D, Vitamin Shoppe Liquid Vitamin D3 5000 IU, Vitamin Shoppe M.D. Select Dr. Ronald Hoffman Advanced Vitamin D3 and K2, Vitamin World Absorbable Calcium 1200 mg with D 1000 IU, Vitamin World Sunvite Vitamin D3 2000 IU, Wellesse Calcium & Vitamin D3, and Wellesse Vitamin D3. is a leading provider of consumer information and independent evaluations of products that affect health and nutrition. The company is privately held and based in Westchester, New York. It has no ownership from, or interest in, companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell consumer products. is affiliated with , which helps consumers evaluate online pharmacies and drug prices, and , which reviews and rates Medicare Part D plans.
Reported purpose & perceived effectiveness Side effects as an overall problem Commonly reported side effects and conditions associated with Vitamin D 42 reported side effects Based on patients currently taking Vitamin D 5,000 intl units daily 2,000 intl units daily 1,000 intl units daily 50,000 intl units weekly 4,000 intl units daily 400 intl units daily 10,000 intl units daily Why patients stopped taking Vitamin D Multiple reasons could be selected Course of treatment ended Did not seem to work Side effects too severe Change in health plan coverage who’ve stopped taking Vitamin D Currently taking Vitamin D Less than 1 month 1 - 6 months 6 months - 1 year 1 - 2 years 2 - 5 years 5 - 10 years 10 years or more Stopped taking Vitamin D Walgreens Vitamin D3 2000 IU Gummies FruitPuritan's Pride Vitamin D3 5000 IU-200 SoftgelsVitamin D is known as essential when it comes to building strong teeth and bones, but did you know that the ...primary source for Vitamin D is not always food?
Unfortunately, the sun does not shine all of the time and on... read moreGarden of Life Vitamin D3 Derived from Lanolin; a Provitamin D3 Made from Genetically Modified Yeast Is Available by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS In November 2009, a VRG member asked us to confirm with the vitamin company, Garden of Life, what the company told him about their vitamin D3, sold as Vitamin Code Raw Vitamin D3: A preliminary look at the Garden of Life website in November 2009 yielded confusion because the term “vegetarian,” (not “vegan”), was used to characterize their Vitamin Code Raw Vitamin D3. They told a customer that the vitamin D in the Vitamin Code products was from a single cell plant (yeast) rich in vitamin D3. Given that the usual commercial source of vitamin D3 is sheep’s lanolin, the VRG had questions for Garden of Life about its production methods and wanted to determine whether the product was “vegan.” By the end of January 2010, as we continued to call and email Garden of Life, requesting more detail on their production methods and detection methods, we were informed by Barbara, a Product Support Supervisor at Garden of Life, that the yeast are “fed” lanolin as their starting material.
Barbara stated: “The D3 that we use has been synthesized from animal cholesterol, primarily lanolin. The company said there is no known plant source of Vitamin D3. Wondering whether Garden of Life was correct about there not being a non-animal derived vitamin D3, I further examined the question. After searching patent websites and speaking with several doctors and scientists at biotech companies, vitamin companies and universities, we discovered that there is a patented process, discovered in the late 1980s-early 1990s by Amoco BioProducts Corporation in Illinois to produce a mutant yeast-derived provitamin D3. The patented process is considered “semisynthetic” because petrochemical materials are used in conjunction with the fermentation of genetically engineered yeast to produce the provitamin D3. Then, during the manufacturing process, the yeast-derived provitamin D3 is exposed to light and transformed to “High Density 25-hydroxy vitamin D3” used in poultry feed and as an injectable vitamin supplement in Europe.
Currently, Roche holds the US patent while DSM holds the European version. According to the scientists whom we interviewed, one of whom was directly involved in the genetic engineering of the yeast at Amoco which led to the patent and another who is a technical director at DSM, 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 made through the patented process is currently used in poultry feed in the United States because it “ameliorates the effects” of leg bone deformation while maintaining weight gain during the rearing process. It is produced in high yield, too. One source stated that its widespread use in the livestock industry suggests that it is economically feasible to produce it semisynthetically and saw no reason why it couldn’t be used in humans, too. He suggested that since lanolin was an abundant enough source of a vitamin D3 supplement, manufacturers lack an incentive to make it any other way for human use. Nevertheless, the patent application proposes that the semisynthetic process to make provitamin D3 could be “useful in a number of contexts, e.g., in topical pharmaceutical formulations (for the treatment of skin disorders or the like), in oral vitamin compositions, and as livestock feed additives.”