@article{2ce83c01398643bc8a727ad14cf17247,
title = "Stability of commercially available macular carotenoid supplements in oil and powder formulations",
abstract = "We previously identified that the concentration of zeaxanthin in some commercially available carotenoid supplements did not agree with the product{\textquoteright}s label claim. The conclusion of this previous work was that more quality assurance was needed to guarantee concordance between actual and declared concentrations of these nutrients i.e., lutein (L) zeaxanthin (Z) and meso-zeaxanthin (MZ) in commercially available supplements. Since this publication, we performed further analyses using different commercially available macular carotenoid supplements. Three capsules from one batch of eight products were analysed at two different time points. The results have been alarming. All of the powder filled products (n = 3) analysed failed to comply with their label claim (L: 19–74%; Z: 57–73%; MZ: 83–97%); however, the oil filled soft gel products (n = 5) met or were above their label claim (L: 98–122%; Z: 117–162%; MZ: 97–319%). We also identified that the carotenoid content of the oil filled capsules were stable over time (e.g., L average percentage change: −1.7%), but the powder filled supplements degraded over time (e.g., L average percentage change: −17.2%). These data are consistent with our previous work, and emphasize the importance of using carotenoid interventions in oil based formulas rather than powder filled formulas.",
keywords = "Lutein, Macular carotenoid supplementation, Macular pigment, Meso-zeaxanthin, Zeaxanthin",
author = "David Phelan and Alfonso Prado-Cabrero and Nolan, {John M.}",
note = "Funding Information: Conflicts of Interest: D.P. is a Howard Fellow, and his research program is supported by the Howard Foundation (English Charity reg. number 285822) via a grant from IOSA (Industrial Org{\'a}nica S.A., Monterrey, Nuevo Le{\'o}n, Mexico), MacuHealth LLC{\texttrademark} (Birmingham, MI, USA) and Alliance Pharma plc (Chippenham, Wiltshire, UK); all of the above organizations have an interest in commercially available supplements containing the macular carotenoids. APC was the previous incumbent of the Howard fellowship within the NRCI but currently has no conflict of interest. JMN does consultancy work for nutraceutical companies as a director of Nutrasight Consultancy Ltd. The sponsors had no involvement in study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript or in the decision to submit the article for publication. Funding Information: Acknowledgments: The authors wish to acknowledge the Howard Foundation, (Registered UK Charity No. 285822), Iosa (Industrial Org{\'a}nica S.A., Monterrey, Nuevo Le{\'o}n, Mexico), MacuHealth LLC{\texttrademark} (Birmingham, MI, USA) and Alliance Pharma plc (Clippenham, Wiltshire, UK) for the financial support of this research. The Principal Investigator (JMN) is also funded by the European Research Council (CREST Grant No. 281096). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",
year = "2017",
month = oct,
day = "17",
doi = "10.3390/nu9101133",
language = "English",
volume = "9",
journal = "Nutrients",
issn = "2072-6643",
publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",
number = "10",
}