Daily supplements can play a role in maintaining your health and wellbeing. However, supplements don’t undergo the same rigorous approval process as prescription drugs. They, therefore, might not live up to all the promises plastered on their bottles. That’s why it’s so important to look for this one feature when buying supplements.
Seal of Approval
While it’s not a guarantee that your hair supplements will actually thicken your locks, a seal of approval on the bottle is an excellent place to start. The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) seal on supplement bottles assures you that, at the very least, the ingredients on the label are the ones used in the bottle.
The USP seal is a mark of quality. It reassures consumers that what they are buying has been checked for contaminants and is safe for consumption. It also says that the FDA has ascertained that the manufacturer has passed the necessary sanitation and procedural standards.
However, you should check the seal carefully as the “USP” letters without the seal mean that the government body hasn’t verified the supplements. USP claims that only a handful of brands have supplements that carry their seal of approval.
NSF International
Supplement manufacturers have also engaged NSF International, a non-profit organization that vets these products. Unlike the green and gold USP seal, the NSF uses a blue and white one as their mark of approval. Their “NSF Certified for Sport” seal is especially useful for products like protein shakes and steroids.
Although the supplement industry isn’t as tightly regulated as prescription drugs, the FDA and NSF International have taken steps to help consumers identify quality products.
