Survey reveals preference for fish oil supplements, multivitamins

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y Among people who use dietary supplements, fish oil supplements are nearly as popular as multivitamins, according to a recent survey released Tuesday by ConsumerLab.com, which also publishes test reports on supplements.

The survey is based on responses collected in November from 6,000 supplement users who receive the company’s e-newsletter. 

“We conduct the annual survey to help direct our lab testing toward products of greatest interest to our subscribers; but the survey also yields unparalleled insight into the preferences of people who use supplements and nutritional products,” stated Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com.   

Among the survey’s key findings: 

•  Multivitamins were used by 73.8% of all respondents, followed in popularity by fish oil (71.6%), calcium (55.3%) and CoQ10 (50.9%) supplements.  Among people using 10 or more supplements each day, use of fish oil (84.8%) exceeded that of multivitamins (75.5%), and use of CoQ10 (78.9%) exceeded that of calcium (67.6%). 

•  Use of most supplements increased with age, while use of multivitamins declined slightly. Dramatic increases with age were seen with vitamin D (use increased from 21% among those under age 35 to 47.4% among those 65 years and older) and CoQ10 (use increased from 28.8% to 60.1% for the two age groups, respectively). 

Ratings were given for 1,087 brands and 380 merchants. Of the brands and merchants that received at least 100 consumer ratings, the following received the highest overall satisfaction ratings within their market segments. 

Top-rated Supplement Brands:•        Catalogue/Internet Brand: Puritan’s Pride•        Direct Selling (MLM) Brand: Nutrilite•        Discount/Warehouse Brand: Member’s Mark (Sam’s Club)•        Grocery Store Brand: Equate (Albertson’s)•        Healthcare Practitioner Brand: Pure Encapsulations•        Health Food Store Brand: Barlean’s•        Mass Market Brand: Nature Made•        Pharmacy Brand: CVS•        Vitamin Store Brand: Vitamin World 

Top-rated Supplement Merchants: •        Catalogue/Internet: Puritan's Pride •        Direct Sales (MLM): Nutrilite •        Grocery Store: Trader Joe's •        Mass Market: Target •        Online Retailer: iherb.com •        Pharmacy: Walgreens •        Vitamin Store: Vitamin World •        Warehouse Store: Costco  

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