Fake Vitamin C is everywhere, and a new round of third-party testing proves it…
A decade ago, independent testing of big box store supplement brands proved that many products didn’t provide the advertised amount of nutrients.
Now, Amazon, the online retail king, is in the crosshairs.
A new round of independent testing of random supplements on Amazon shows the situation hasn’t improved.
Because of the nature of independent sellers on Amazon, the oversight is even more difficult than that of big box retailers.
So difficult, in fact, that recent third-party testing of Vitamin C gummies revealed almost 50% of brands tested failed to meet the potency that was listed on the label.
Even worse, of the products that did pass, almost 30% were borderline and considered likely to fall below their declared amount of Vitamin C before their expiration date. This is due to the stability challenge of this kind of product. According to the testing laboratory, Vitamin C is known to degrade in the gummy format.
There was some good news in the findings, though: Five of the most-recognized name brands did, in fact, contain the advertised potency. The findings suggest that the biggest risk is with lowest-priced supplements peddled by sellers with little history.
Testing details
A mix of both name brands and generic little-recognized brands were tested using high-performance liquid chromatography, a chromatographic method designed to specifically quantify the ascorbic acid-type of Vitamin C.
Of the 25 brands that appeared over-stated or highly suspicious, only 13 met their declared Vitamin C potency at the time of testing.
Twelve products contained almost no detectable Vitamin C, while four of the products that initially passed were projected to fall below their labelled potency before the end of their stated shelf life.
According to the lab technicians the results underline the importance of analytical method selection. That’s because non-specific spectrophotometric assays can potentially produce inflated potency results—which the manufacturers then put on the label—when, in fact, other gummy ingredients, such as sugars and flavorings, interfere with analysis.
In contrast, liquid chromatography can separate Vitamin C from related compounds to provide a more specific measurement.
The most shocking finding was that several of the products contained only 2 mg of Vitamin C while the label claimed 1,000 mg. This discrepancy is so egregious that the only appropriate description for the product is “fake.”
It should be noted that the entire project was sponsored by an independent supplement manufacturer; however, the testing was conducted by a reputable third-party testing laboratory, Alkemist Labs, an ISO 17025-accredited lab.
Furthermore, two bottles from each brand were tested to ensure accuracy, and the results were provided to both Amazon and the FDA for transparency and review.
The results have been widely published in supplement manufacturing news sites, such as Nutraceutical Business Review.
Not just Vitamin C
In April 2026, in a completely separate endeavor, another supplement company commissioned an liquid chromatography analysis on random glutathione products. This third-party testing was conducted by another ISO 17025-accredited company, Swift Laboratory.
In this round of testing even name brands came up short: the lab found glutathione content ranging from “significantly under-labelled” to “undetectable” in several leading brands. Two of the brands tested contained zero percent of the amount stated on the label.
In addition to the low-potency problem, several supplement companies have revealed another issue that is arguably even more sinister: fake products from ghost companies.
In this scenario, independent sellers on Amazon illegally place name brand labels on their own fake products. Amazon has taken steps to combat this issue during the past few years, but the problem remains.
Savvy Vitamin C consumers take a better route
Savvy Vitamin C consumers not only want a product that delivers the potency listed on the label but also provides all four components of Vitamin C that can only be found in the whole food version: ascorbic acid, rutin, bioflavonoid, and J&K Factor.
These two objectives are sublimely achieved with Optimal Whole C, which is why, at ProActive Wellness, it’s recommended to all our clients/patients wanting to experience “the best performance of their life!”
Not only does Optimal Whole C come with the quality pedigree it also delivers the Vitamin C in the whole food form!
God bless,
DrB
Sources: Nutraceutical Business Review, Wikipedia (Liquid chromatography).
