The Truth About Proprietary Blends in Nutritional Supplements
The use of Proprietary Blends in Nutritional Supplements has increased dramatically over the past decade and it is a widely acceptable practice in most nutritional and supplement companies. However, at All-Star Vitamin, we vow never to formulate any product containing Proprietary Blends because they fundamentally violate two of our core ethos which are 'Transparency' and 'Trust'. We will use an example below to explain to you why we are adamantly against these proprietary blends and why consumers should be very skeptical of them as well.
What is a Proprietary Blend?
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A Proprietary Blend is a formula that only specifies the total weight or potency of the blend itself. While it lists the various ingredients inside the blend, it does not disclose the exact amount of each ingredient on
the label.
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Why is that a bad thing?
Let's take a closer look at the Proprietary Blend "Super Joint Health Complex" on the left versus the standard Scientific Claim Studies of Joint Health ingredients on the right. At first glance, this blend appears to use all the beneficial ingredients for joint health, while most likely being marketed as an "exclusive" joint health product. The marketer may also claim that this formula is so unique that the exact ingredient potencies are not disclosed to prevent the formula from being copied by competitors. While in some cases this may be true, however the fact that it uses all the same ingredients universally studied for joint health undercuts this argument. More than likely, this is an illusion designed to hide 3 secrets:
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1. The least expensive ingredient is almost always going to be at the highest concentration in most proprietary blends. Glucosamine HCL which is relative cheaper in cost could be as much as 90% of the 2000mg of the total blend with just a sprinkle of the other 4 ingredients.
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2. Nutritional label regulations require that blends to be listed in order of potency or weight. However, since individual ingredient potencies are not listed, it’s possible that none or only a few ingredients satisfy the amount studied to produce the benefits listed on the label.
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3. The total potency needed to get maximum benefits from all of the ingredients listed in this blend would be a minimum of 7,000mg. With only 2,000mg of potency and unknown quantity of each ingredient, this blend example could be only as little as 30% effective, thus overstating its value while also deceiving the consumer.
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There are literally hundreds of similarly formulated products available for sale in the market today. You can put your Health and Trust in our hands as we will not go down this path when formulating and
marketing our products. All-Star Vitamin will never use “Proprietary Blends” and we will not use an ingredient in any product if it does not meet the minimum recommended potency validated by scientific studies.