Over-the-counter prenatal multivitamin/mineral products: chemical analysis for the Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (809.3)

Many women use OTC prenatal MVM products to optimize nutrient intake before pregnancy, during pregnancy and lactation. Most prenatal MVM are purchased as prescription products, but the OTC market has increased, especially in the natural health and direct sales channels. Using a statistical sampling plan, 71 DS products were purchased, with 16 from mass market, 45 from natural health and 33 from direct channels. Multiple lots of each product were sent to qualified labs with quality control materials for the analysis of vitamins and minerals. Analytical results were compared to label and evaluated by regression across a range of labeled levels. The predicted mean % differences from label at the most common level ranged from 0 to 40% for chromium. The predicted mean % differences for thiamin, nia...