All Acetyl-l-Carnitine Is Not Created Equal

NOW recently tested seven unknown brands of Acetyl-l-Carnitine from Amazon in order to test potency and compare label claims. It seems that virtually all known brands label Acetyl-l-Carnitine properly, which is “Acetyl-l-Carnitine (from Acetyl-l-Carnitine HCl)”. This is correct in that ALC is about 85% elemental & it takes 600mg of the ALC HCl form in order to make label claim of 500mg ALC. Unfortunately, almost all small brands on Amazon label incorrectly in order to get the higher 500mg label claim. This is very misleading and a deceptive way to compare similar products. Below shows the brands we tested and their lot numbers. All products were purchased on Amazon in the past 30 days. None of these brands met label claims for true ALC, as all mislabel and do not list the net potency from ALC HCl. Three brands did meet label claim in the misleading way these are labeled.

As a result of this investigation, NOW will begin adding additional detail to our product labels for Acetyl-l-Carnitine, as well as other products such as l-Ornithine and l-Lysine. Once our label changes are complete, you can expect to see our products labeled like this on the side panel:

Acetyl-l-Carnitine……………..500mg
(From 600mg Acetyl-l-Carnitine HCl)

⚠︎ = potency claims not met or poor results

Brand	Vendor Lot #	Label Claim	Acetyl L-Carnitine Result	Acetyl L-Carnitine HCl Result
⚠︎Pure Science	C106515	525 mg	434 mg	512 mg
⚠︎Nature’s Trove	100805	500 mg	458 mg	540 mg
⚠︎Bri Nutrition	2017-01508	500 mg	394 mg	465 mg
⚠︎Superior Labs	802022	500 mg	421 mg	497 mg
⚠︎Devine Bounty	AC53374	600 mg	536 mg	632 mg
⚠︎Best Naturals	061817	1000 mg	852 mg	n/a
⚠︎aSquared	01081802	500 mg	127 mg	n/a