NOW Reports Testing on Brands of Alpha Lipoic Acid

This report is NOW’s fifth in 2020 regarding suspect brands whose main sales appear to be on Amazon. Previous reports include: CoQ10, SAMe, Acetyl-l-Carnitine, and Phosphatidyl Serine. In October 2020, NOW purchased two samples of each Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) product listed below on Amazon. We tested each product internally on our HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography) instrument by the test method known as RP-HPLC with UV detection. We also sent the same lot of each product to Eurofins, which is a recognized and independent quality laboratory, to test by the same method.

Results were actually better than expected compared to prior reports, where average potencies were often below 50% of label claims. For ALA, NOW brand tested at 110% and the other 13 brands combined to average 69% of label claim. Six out of these 13 brands were under 75% potency. All of these products listed were legally unacceptable as cGMP’s (current Good Manufacturing Practices) require minimum 100% potency tested at label claims. Given that many consumers rely on Amazon for dietary supplement purchases, the finding of significant quality concerns in every category we have tested raises profound concerns.

NOW adds significant overages to all supplement products in order to exceed label claims through the listed “Best by” date. For ALA, NOW adds min. 5% overage to always test over 100% of label claim. This is normal for NOW, but not standard practice for many brands. NOW also tests all ALA products in-house for heavy metals, micro (E-coli, Salmonella spp., total bacteria, etc.), and other impurities. This assures that the end product is safe and tested to meet full potency label claims.

⚠︎ = potency claims not met or poor results

Amazon ALA 2020 Nov Analysis	Count	Lot #	Expir. Date	Label Claim	NOW Results	Eurofins Results	Av % Result
NOW (Plus Formula)	120 Vcaps	3154580	04/23	600 mg	659 mg	661 mg	110%
⚠︎Absonutrix (Code barely legible)	60 Caps	AS51618.1	05/21	600 mg	11 mg	20.9 mg	5%
⚠︎AMVILABGA	60 Caps	347095	07/23	600 mg	540 mg	591 mg	94%
⚠︎Best Naturals NJ	120 Caps	62053	06/23	600 mg	402 mg	433 mg	70%
⚠︎Boostceuticals NY	180 Caps	260218	02/22	300 mg	128 mg	92.6 mg	37%
⚠︎BRI NY – Expired next month	120 Caps	2017-01628	10/20	250 mg	224 mg	230 mg	91%
⚠︎Health Thru Nutrition NY	120 Caps	0361 9121	01/22	600 mg	559 mg	561 mg	93%
⚠︎Mental Refreshment, MD	180 Caps	23072004.4	08/22	600 mg	559 mg	579 mg	95%
⚠︎Nova Nutritions NJ	120 Caps	120062016	06/23	600 mg	404 mg	430 mg	70%
⚠︎NusaPure FL	180 Caps	2005001	04/23	600 mg	557 mg	594 mg	96%
⚠︎Sun Pure NJ – Expired on arrival	120 Caps	AV -8070301	07/20	600 mg	375 mg	298 mg	56%
⚠︎Superior Labs UT	120 Caps	006271	07/22	600 mg	565 mg	599 mg	87%
⚠︎VitaDirect UT	120 Caps	20032662	07/22	300 mg	253 mg	268 mg	87%
⚠︎We Like Vitamins Ml	180 Caps	10022001	07/24	600 mg	49 mg	49.3 mg	8%
One brand tested was over 100% potency and not included in above.