Monday, August 12, 2013

Read the Labels

Recently I was having a discussion about vitamin D with a friend and she said I should check my bottle to make sure that I was getting the dose I intended. I had two different kinds and looked at both of them.



At first glance it appeared that the major difference between these two was that one of them is a gummy vitamin that you chew and the other is the traditional pill that you swallow. However, when I read the nutrition information on the back, another more important difference came to light.

Even though both labels on the front say 2000 IU, it takes one pill to equal that of the traditional vitamin and TWO gummies to equal that of the gummy vitamin. Sneaky. Yes. I guess the out for the gummies is that it says "Formula" after "2000 IU".

I like to think that I am a smart shopper and have a good eye for detail, but not this time. I fell for the "clever" marketing practices of the vitafusion company. I hope that I pay more attention in the future and you can use this as a heads up for your own shopping.



Posted by Live and Learn at 7:00 AM
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10 comments:

  1. Economies of KaleAugust 12, 2013 at 9:05 AM

    Sneaky! I am also a compulsive label-reader, but do occasionally get tripped up. On the weekend I bought some salted cashews that were on special, thinking they were just cashews and salt, but they also had sunflower oil, which I'm not a big fan of. It didn't stop me eating them though!

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    1. Live and LearnAugust 12, 2013 at 9:14 AM

      I didn't pay attention because I assumed that the serving size on both of them was one pill unlike food where you're never quite sure what the serving size is.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousAugust 12, 2013 at 10:46 AM

    I think we all get caught at some point on this.

    I have to always be careful and check to make sure sale prices are truly the best buy for my money by comparing amounts in packages.

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    1. Live and LearnAugust 12, 2013 at 6:24 PM

      Another thing you have to be careful with and read the labels is package size because they continuously make things smaller. The "5 lb" bag of sugar I bought this weekend was only "4 lb."

      Delete
  3. AnonymousAugust 13, 2013 at 12:47 AM

    I probably wouldn't have caught that either. If the goal is to get us to buy their product more often hiding that information to the back label wasn't a good move.

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    1. Live and LearnAugust 13, 2013 at 6:54 AM

      You're right about that. I will not the vitafusion brand any more.

      Delete
  4. The Prudent HomemakerAugust 13, 2013 at 10:17 AM

    It's not just the gummy vitamins that do this; I have noticed this before on other vitamins. I won't buy gummies, though, as they are so much more money per vitamin as a regular vitamin (be it one you swallow as an adult or a children's chewable).

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    1. Live and LearnAugust 13, 2013 at 12:51 PM

      I got the gummies because I hate to swallow pills and I thought they were the right strength. I will have to check out children's chewables.

      Delete
  5. LisaAugust 14, 2013 at 1:50 PM

    Good catch! I will have to check out the labels on our supplements.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Live and LearnAugust 14, 2013 at 3:45 PM

      I wish everything wasn't a game with the the marketing departments. It makes shopping hard.

      Delete

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