You're in the shop with two packs in your hands. The fronts are both fruit and a round percentage. We have done this more times than we can count, including with our own.
The useful part is on the back, in type you have to tilt towards the light.
The short answer
- % NRV is an adult labelling figure, not a recommendation for your child.
- Compare a day's worth, not one gummy against one tablet.
- A long list of nutrients is not the same as a useful amount of each.
- "Tested" only counts if you can open the document.
Turn it over. Find the day, not the scoop
The number that matters is how much the pack says to take in a day, and how much of each nutrient sits in that day's worth.
Brands mix this up, by habit or by design. One lists amounts per tablet. Another per two gummies. Until you convert both to a day, you are not comparing products. You are comparing serving suggestions.
If it's for children, the age line is as important as the dose. "From 4 years" is not a mood. It's who the formula was made for.
The percentage is not for your child
NRV means Nutrient Reference Value. On packs in Europe it is a set of adult figures, so that 50% on two different tubs means the same adult ruler. Vitamin C's NRV is 80 mg. Vitamin D's is 5 µg. Iron's is 14 mg.
It is not what an eight-year-old needs. It is not what a teenager needs. It is not even, strictly, what you need. It is a ruler.
So a children's product at 100% NRV of vitamin D is showing 5 µg, measured against an adult number. Whether 5 µg is a sensible amount for your child is a different question. EFSA and, in Ireland, the NHS answer that one. The tub does not.
Read the milligrams first. Then the percentage. Then the age.
Three lines that beat the front of the pack
What form the mineral is in. Magnesium oxide and magnesium bisglycinate are both magnesium. They are not interchangeable, and the label should name the form, not only the mineral.
Sugar, sweeteners, "other ingredients". Not a moral test. A gummy with glucose syrup near the top is a sweet. A powder that lists a flavouring is telling you the taste does not come from a handful of berries, however pretty the photo.
Who it is for. Adults, children over a stated age, pregnancy, or none of those. If the pack doesn't say, put it back.
"Tested" is a word until you can open a file
It can mean the factory weighed the batch. It can mean a named lab measured a named nutrient against the label. It can mean they checked for germs. Those are different jobs, and the lid does not tell you which.
Ask for the certificate of analysis for the batch you might buy. Named lab, named tests, a date. If a brand cannot point you to that, "tested" is doing the same work as the smiling fruit.
We publish ours. Read them the way you would read anyone else's: batch number, date, what was measured, whether it matched the label. If they look thin, say so. We would rather you asked.
In Ireland the FSAI is who looks after this. Same European rules as the rest of the EU, and a public page that is worth a look before you trust a lid.
What our own label is not hiding
A busy panel can still be a small dose. We have already said this about our magnesium: Pocket Kids carries 100 mg. That sits beside food. It is not a day's worth on its own.
Count the nutrients and we look thorough. Read the amounts and you can see what we chose not to pretend.
We contain no iron. If it isn't on the label, it isn't in the pouch. Anyone talking about iron while selling this is talking about a different product.
Two minutes in the shop
- Daily dose, and the age line.
- Amounts in mg or µg, not the line at the top.
- % NRV only to compare two adult packs.
- Sugar, flavouring, the form of the bulky minerals.
- A batch test you can actually open.
If that takes longer than choosing by colour, the pack is doing its job.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII (NRVs)
- Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements
- FSAI, food supplements
- NHS, vitamins for children
- EU Register of nutrition and health claims
Written by Lina and Stanislava, founders of MyDailyPocket. This is here to be useful, not to replace your GP. No supplement is a substitute for a varied, balanced diet. Stay within the dose on the pack.
