The supplement facts panel is one of the most important — and most misunderstood — pieces of information on any health product. Read it correctly and you can tell within 30 seconds whether a product is worth your money. Read it wrong, and you'll be fooled by the same marketing tricks the industry has been using for decades.
This guide walks through every section of a supplement label, explains what it actually tells you, and highlights the specific patterns that signal a low-quality or deceptive product.
The Regulatory Reality
Before reading a label, it helps to understand what regulation actually guarantees — and what it doesn't. In the United States, dietary supplements are regulated under DSHEA (the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994). Under DSHEA, manufacturers do not need to prove a product is effective before selling it. They must not make disease claims, and they must not sell products that are adulterated or misbranded — but the burden of enforcement falls on the FDA rather than on pre-market approval.
This means that what you see on a supplement label is not independently verified by the government unless the manufacturer has sought third-party certification. That context matters for everything that follows.
Serving Size and Servings Per Container
This is the most manipulated section of any supplement panel. Manufacturers set their own serving sizes, and they can — and do — use this to make a product appear more potent than it is.
Here's how the manipulation works: if a product contains 500mg of a key ingredient per serving, but the serving size is defined as four capsules, and the bottle contains 30 servings — that's 120 capsules for 30 days. At four capsules a day, the bottle lasts one month. But if you see "500mg per serving" and assume a serving is one or two capsules, you're misreading the dose.
Always check: serving size (how many capsules/scoops) × servings per container = total number of doses. Then decide if that's consistent with a practical daily routine.
Proprietary Blends — The Biggest Red Flag
A proprietary blend is a group of ingredients listed together with a combined total weight, but without individual ingredient amounts. You might see something like:
ThermaBurn Proprietary Matrix — 850mg
Green Tea Extract, Caffeine Anhydrous, L-Carnitine, Raspberry Ketones, Garcinia Cambogia Extract, Cayenne Pepper, Chromium Picolinate
Those seven ingredients total 850mg. But what's the split? If caffeine is listed first (ingredients within a proprietary blend are listed in descending order by weight), it might be 800mg of caffeine and 10mg of everything else — or the reverse. You cannot tell.
Why do manufacturers use proprietary blends? The official explanation is to protect their formulas from competitors. The real reason, in most cases, is to obscure the fact that active ingredients are present at sub-clinical doses.
Our rule: if a product hides doses behind a proprietary blend, we cannot verify whether it will work. We treat it as a significant negative in any product evaluation.
Active vs. Other Ingredients
The "Supplement Facts" panel lists active ingredients. Below it — or in a separate section — you'll find "Other Ingredients." These are typically:
- Capsule materials: Gelatin or hypromellose (vegetarian). Neither is a concern.
- Fillers/bulking agents: Microcrystalline cellulose, dicalcium phosphate, rice flour. These are inert and used to give capsules their volume. Harmless in normal amounts.
- Flow agents: Magnesium stearate, silicon dioxide. These prevent ingredients from clumping during manufacturing. There is no credible evidence that they reduce absorption at standard levels, despite persistent online claims to the contrary.
- Coatings: Carnauba wax, shellac. Used to coat tablets. Shellac is not vegan.
- Artificial colours and dyes: FD&C colours like Red 40 or Blue 1. No health concern at supplement doses, but worth noting if you're avoiding artificial additives.
A long "other ingredients" list is not inherently a problem. What matters is whether those ingredients serve a legitimate manufacturing purpose.
Standardised Extracts — What They Mean
When you see a plant ingredient listed as a "standardised extract," it means the extract has been processed to guarantee a minimum concentration of a specific bioactive compound. This matters because plant material varies significantly in potency depending on source, season, and processing.
Examples of how this appears on labels:
- Green Tea Extract (standardised to 45% EGCG) — 500mg
This means you're getting approximately 225mg of EGCG — a clinically relevant amount. - Green Tea Extract — 500mg
Without standardisation, the actual EGCG content could be anywhere from 5% to 50%. You can't know.
For any botanical ingredient that appears in our reviews, we look for standardised extracts with declared potency. Raw botanical powders without standardisation are impossible to compare meaningfully.
Structure/Function Claims vs. Disease Claims
Under DSHEA, supplements may make "structure/function claims" — statements about how the product supports normal body function. They may not make disease claims — statements about treating, curing, or preventing a specific disease.
Permitted: "Supports healthy metabolism" / "Promotes thermogenesis" / "Helps maintain healthy weight"
Not permitted: "Treats obesity" / "Cures diabetes" / "Prevents heart disease"
When you see a claim that sounds like it's treating a disease — even if it's worded carefully — note that the FDA has not evaluated or approved it. The required disclaimer ("This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.") is required on every supplement that makes a structure/function claim. Its presence is mandatory, not reassuring.
Quick Red Flags Checklist
Run through these before buying any supplement:
- Proprietary blend with no individual ingredient amounts
- Serving size is unusually large (4–6 capsules) to make the dose look bigger
- Long ingredient list with many ingredients at low combined total weight (ingredient "pixie dusting")
- No third-party certification for products making strong efficacy claims
- Unstandardised botanical extracts for ingredients where potency varies (e.g., "green tea extract" without % EGCG)
- No expiry date or lot number — required on legitimate products
- Claims that sound like disease treatment without the standard FDA disclaimer
Green Flags — What Good Labels Look Like
- All ingredients individually dosed — no proprietary blends
- Standardised extracts with declared potency percentages
- Third-party certification logo (NSF, Informed Sport, USP)
- Realistic serving size (1–2 capsules for most formulas)
- Short, purposeful "other ingredients" list
- Manufacturer contact information and lot number clearly displayed
Bottom Line
Reading a supplement label takes about 90 seconds once you know what to look for. The single most useful rule: if you can't see how much of each active ingredient is in a serving, you can't evaluate the product — and you probably shouldn't buy it.
The supplements we recommend in our comparison guide all meet our minimum standard for label transparency: every active ingredient individually dosed, no proprietary blends hiding key amounts, and ideally third-party verified.