Thanks for your questions, Beth. ConsumerLab.com purchases and tests hundreds of supplements each year, but it is not possible to test every brand -- as there are more than 30,000 supplements sold in the U.S. Instead, we focus on those which tend to be most popular while still getting a good representation of the different sales channels,. E. g, mass market, supermarket, pharmacy, health food and vitamin stores, professional brands, direct distributor, etc. The number of different products we test in category ranges from about 10 to more than 50 depending on the popularity of the category. The testing is expensive and comprehensive, typically involving many tests and employing the most accurate analytical methods.

Our information regarding the use of supplements is based on extensive, ongoing review of clinical studies, which we reference. We point out what supplements have been shown to do, what they don't do, the form and dosage used, and potential side effects and drug interactions.

In our Product Reviews, we select, purchase, test, and report results -- pass or fail -- for every product selected for the review. These reviews are funded by our subscribers - over 70,000 individuals as well as libraries, colleges, and universities. Our mission is to help consumers identify high quality products through independent testing. We also operate the olderst 3rd party dietary supplement certification program in the U.S. (started in 1999), in which any company can voluntarily have its product independently tested to determine if it meets our standards. The company pays a testing fee and the product gets purchased and tested in the same manner as those we select for our reviews. If it passes, we include it on our site, identifying that it was tested through the voluntary program.

You can find more information about ConsumerLab.com athttps://www.consumerlab.com/aboutcl.asp. We are also the only 3rd party verification group to publicly disclose our testing methods and criteria, which you can access, by category, from https://www.consumerlab.com/methods_index.asp

I hope that helps answer your questions.

Sincerely,

Tod Cooperman, M. D.
President and Founder
ConsumerLab.com