Supplement label and calculations

Every nutrition table refers to a serving, and the serving is set by the manufacturer. It may be one capsule, three, five millilitres or a sachet. Before comparing two numbers, check whether they refer to the same thing — most often they do not.

The rest are labels that look like certificates but are not, and a number that confirms a product from two different shops is actually the same product.

The terms one by one

Food supplementlegal product category

A foodstuff supplementing the normal diet, marketed in dosed forms: capsules, tablets, sachets or drops. It is not a medicine and does not undergo medicinal-product registration studies. The words “food supplement” must appear on the package.

Servingdaily serving

The amount of product to which the whole composition table refers. It may be one capsule, three or 5 ml. Without this information, label numbers mean nothing, and it is the most common source of errors when comparing products.

Directions for usemanufacturer's recommendation

Sometimes the manufacturer provides several options: one basic, another higher. We record the highest number allowed by the label, solely to show how many times the user's target differs from it. We do not restate the reasons why the manufacturer separates those options.

NRVnutrient reference value

The reference value from Annex XIII to Regulation 1169/2011, used to calculate percentages on a label. It describes a product; it does not determine how much should be consumed.

EANproduct number

A thirteen-digit code identifying a specific package. It confirms that a product in two shops is the same product, not a similar one. Without the code, a price comparison can simply be unfair.

GIS notificationregister notification

An entry in the register of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate. It is a product notification before marketing, not an authorisation or quality assessment — even though advertising sometimes presents it differently.

Health claima statement about an ingredient's effect

A statement such as “contributes to…”. A manufacturer may use it only when that exact claim appears in the EU register and the serving contains the required amount of the ingredient. Regulation 1924/2006 sets the rules. We use no claims — we compare only numbers from the label.

Antioxidantan additive that protects the product

Most often vitamin E or a mixture of tocopherols. It slows fat oxidation in a capsule, so it appears mainly in oils.

Excipientsfillers and coatings

Cellulose, magnesium salts of fatty acids, gelatine or glycerol. They do not enter the calculation, but determine whether a product is suitable for vegans.

Other groups of terms

Omega-3 Vitamin D Magnesium, zinc, iron Vitamin C B vitamins Collagen Creatine Probiotics

How the numbers from a label turn into the cost of a day is shown in the omega-3 calculator — for now this is the only finished category. The rules by which we build the ranking are described in the How we rank section.