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What is the breakdown of EPA and DHA in your fish oil product? |
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Nature Made continues to specify the total Omega-3 content of its fish oil and guarantees that the omega-3 contains both EPA and DHA. We no longer specify the amount of EPA and DHA in most of its fish oil products because the EPA and DHA makeup of the Omega-3 in the world’s fish supply has become less constant due to a number of natural factors including: 1) Where the fish are caught, and 2) fluctuations in water temperature and weather (seasonal, global, cyclical i.e. El Nino). Most manufacturers have removed the breakdown from their labels for these same reasons.
For heart health, the American Heart Association recommends between 500-1000 mg of Omega- 3’s per day, containing both EPA and DHA, but they do not provide a specific ratio. For those consumers who would still like the Omega-3 EPA and Omega-3 DHA content broken out, Nature Made does have a Double Strength Fish Oil which has specifically 672mg of Omega-3 EPA and 552mg Omega-3 DHA (per serving of 2 softgels) and our Heart and Stress Defense product provides 1000 mg EPA and 200 mg DHA (per serving of 2 softgels); both achieved through custom blending different types of fish oil. |
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What form of vitamin D do you use in your products? Is it D2 or D3? |
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Our vitamin D supplements contain Vitamin D from D3, which is the preferred source of Vitamin D. Further, the Vitamin D in our multivitamins is also from D3. We recently added the “D3” designation on our labels as our consumers have been asking us the source of our Vitamin D. However, please note that we have not changed the source of Vitamin D in these products. |
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Where does your fish oil come from and what are the quality standards of your Fish Oil products? |
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We use only the oil from wild, deep water, ocean fish; sardines and anchovies. Each batch of our Fish Oil products is inspected and tested to insure that there are no detectable levels of the contaminants PCB’s, dioxins, or heavy metals such as lead or mercury. We follow the most stringent manufacturing and testing standards established by the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), the standard setting body recognized by the FDA. Our Fish Oil products were the first to receive the USP Dietary Supplement Verification Seal (DSVP) for purity, quality and potency. |
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Why is my fish oil capsule cloudy? My last bottle had softgels which were clear and shiny. Is there something wrong with my cloudy fish oil capsules? |
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There is nothing wrong with your Fish Oil. The cloudy softgels are the enteric coated Odorless Fish Oil softgels. The special enteric coating, which helps control fish burps, gives the softgels a cloudy appearance. Our non-enteric coated Fish Oil softgels, such as our Fish Oil Double Strength and Heart and Stress Relief softgels, are clear and shiny. It is likely that your last bottle was the non-enteric coated Fish Oil and your new bottle is the Odorless Fish Oil. |
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Q: |
What happened to the easier to swallow calcium pills? |
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We still manufacture the smaller and easier to swallow Calcium 500 mg with Vitamin D and Calcium 600 mg with Vitamin D tablets, but the labels no longer indicate “smaller and easier” to swallow. You can continue to purchase your Calcium 500 mg with Vitamin D and Calcium 600mg with Vitamin D and expect the same size tablet. |
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What is the source of the gelatin in your products?
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The gelatin that we use in our products is derived from a porcine (pork) source and is bovine (beef) free. |
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Q: |
Where are your products manufactured and from where do you purchase specific ingredients?
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Most all of our supplements are manufactured in southern California.
As far as our ingredients are concerned, Nature Made sources ingredients from suppliers around the world including Asia and the Americas. Some of our products may contain ingredients sourced from China. Since ingredient sources can change from time to time, we are unable to specify their country of origin. We also cannot indicate whether or not a product we manufacture contains ingredient(s) from a particular country. We personally visit and inspect all new suppliers and only partner with those that meet our best-in-class standards. Once approved, the facilities are regularly audited for quality assurance. We are proud to source ingredients only from highly respected suppliers. In addition, after being received at our manufacturing facilities here in the USA, raw materials are immediately quarantined, sampled, tested, approved and properly tagged for tracking throughout the manufacturing process. This process ensures that only safe and high-quality products are released. Rigorous testing is perforfmed throughout the manufacturing process to ensure products of the highest quality. Our Quality Control laboratory, one of the most advanced in the country, performs more than 300 tests daily. All of our ingredients and our water supply are routinely tested for harmful contaminants before use. Finally, Nature Made products are made to stringent Good Manufacturing Practice standards set by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) to ensure our products are safe and of high quality. Consumer Safety is our number one concern. |
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Q: |
Do Pharmavite® LLC. products contain heavy metals or any other contaminants?
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Heavy metals are tested in accordance with Prop 65, a California Law, so our materials pass heavy metals and all other contaminant specifications.
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Q: |
Do Nature Made® and Nature Made Herbs® products use artificial colors, or preservatives?
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Nature Made® and Nature's Resource® product lines are made to strict quality standards of purity, potency and release. Most all products are produced without artificial colors or preservatives. The few products that do contain artificial colors will state this in the ingredient listing on the label.
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Are dietary supplements regulated under the FDA and have all of your products earned the DVSP (USP Verification) seal?
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Dietary Supplements are regulated under the FDA through DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act of 1994). The United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) establishes standards for the composition of drugs and nutritional supplements. This voluntary non governmental organization was set up in 1820 and has officially been recognized by federal law since 1906. Standards established by USP for products are legally enforceable by the FDA.
To enhance, and further demonstrate Pharmavite’s high quality standards, we have selected certain products to be evaluated in the USP Dietary Supplement Verification Program (DSVP). To date, many of our products have earned the DSVP seal (and additional products are currently being evaluated). Based on a thorough cost/benefit analysis, certain products have been identified to be evaluated for the USP seal program, and others have not been chosen as they are cost prohibitive. However, all of our products go through the same rigorous quality testing at Pharmavite, and the products which have earned the seal help us to demonstrate the high quality of our products.
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Q: |
How do I as a consumer know that the products that I purchase contain the ingredients that are on the label and are at full potency?
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All Nature Made® products meet or exceed strict quality standards of the U. S. Food and Drug Administration and the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP). We guarantee the potency of all labeled ingredients as long as the product has been properly stored and is within its shelf life.
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Q: |
Is there gluten in any Nature Made® or Nature Made Herbs® products?
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Most all of our products are gluten free. For many products in our Nature Made® product line, we do state this on the label. However, because we may change the formulations of our products from time to time, it is best to contact us in order to confirm the gluten free status of the product in question.
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Is it safe to take your product if it has expired?
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It is our policy to assure that ample time remains on the shelf life of every product we ship. It is possible that the product you purchased may have been improperly rotated in the warehouse or on the retail shelf. Please be assured that if a product is past its expiration date, it is in no way harmful. However, some of the nutrients may not be quite up to their labeled potency.
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Can the bottles that your supplements are packaged in, be recycled?
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All of our amber plastic vitamin bottles are polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) which is resin code 1. The caps are polypropylene, which is resin code 5. Therefore, it should be fine to place the bottle in their recycling bin.
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Q: |
Who is Pharmavite® LLC.?
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Pharmavite® LLC. is the parent company of both Nature Made® and Nature's Resource® products. Pharmavite® LLC. has been in business for more than 30 years and makes and distributes high quality vitamins, minerals, and herbs and other nutritional supplements that promote wellness and help maintain good health. |
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Is Pharmavite® LLC. listed on any stock exchange?
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No, Pharmavite® LLC. is not listed on any stock exchange; it is privately owned.
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What is a Daily Value? |
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The Daily Value is the amount of a nutrient the body needs based on a 2000-calorie diet for an average sized person. There are two standards that are referenced as follows:
1. Daily Reference Values
2. Reference Daily Intakes (RDIs), which replaced the term “U.S. RDA” (the values determined by FDA and used on food labels, taken from the “RDAs” which are values determined by the National Academy of Sciences for various populations groups).
The Daily Value (or a RDA's) is the minimal dosage intended to augment less than perfect eating habits (the Daily Values, are the values that will be seen on the labels). However, these values do not indicate what the safe maximum amount of a vitamin you can take, or amounts that may give therapeutic benefits, in addition to keeping the body from being deficient.
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What is an I.U. and how can I convert it into milligrams (mg)? |
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I.U. stands for International Unit, some common conversions are listed below.
Vitamin A
1 mg = 2,907 IU of Vitamin A acetate
1 mg = 1,818 IU of Vitamin A palmitate
Vitamin E Synthetic
1 mg = 1.0 IU of dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate
Vitamin E Natural
1 mg = 1.49 IU of d-alpha tocopherol
Vitamin D
1 mg = 40,000 IU of Vitamin D ( D2 or D3)
Beta Carotene
1 mg = 1,667 IU of Beta Carotene
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What is povidone and why is it used in some of your Nature Made® Vitamin supplements?
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Povidone has a functional use in foods and tablets as a clarifying agent, separation/filtration aid, stabilizer, tableting aid, and dispersant. Povidone is a synthetic material. Povidone is regarded as nontoxic because when consumed orally from a tablet, it is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract or mucous membrane. Moreover, it has no irritant effect on the skin and causes no sensitization. Povidone is used in nutritional supplements, prescription medication and many common over the counter products like Actifed™
, Advil™
, Aleve™
, Motrin™
, Sudafed™
, Children’s Tylenol™
, and many others.
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