Clean Up Needed In The Supplement Aisle: The Supplement Aisle Checklist

CLEAN UP NEEDED IN THE SUPPLEMENT AISLE

We need a clean up in the supplement aisle. It seems like every day a new powder, pill, or gummy hits the shelf, largely without adequate testing or substantiated claims. In reality, the supplement market has outpaced regulatory oversight – and the speed at which the category is growing adds to the confusion and lack of clarity around which products and brands can be trusted to deliver exactly what their label suggests.

THE SUPPLEMENT AISLE CHECKLIST

When considering supplements that are available on the market, there are a few important things to look out for. By bringing more visibility and rigor to these considerations, we can collectively push for higher standards in the category and clean up the confusion surrounding supplements. Some important elements include:

• Third-party testing and certification that verify the quality and safety of the product.
• A science and research-backed approach you can trust.
• Form factor matters. You want to make sure key nutrients make it into the body efficiently.
• Simplicity. Supplements like AG1 are designed to make daily supplementation simpler, replacing multiple single-function products with one foundational solution to support whole body health.

THIRD-PARTY TESTING

Third-party testing is critical because it provides independent verification that a product meets the highest safety, quality, and transparency standards—rather than relying solely on a company’s own claims about the product or its label. With trusted independent testing and certification, you can rest assured that the product is safe, and it contains exactly what’s listed on the label.

NSF CERTIFIED FOR SPORT®

AG1 is proudly NSF Certified for Sport®, one of the most rigorous independent quality and safety certification programs in the supplement industry. NSF conducts annual audits of our manufacturing facilities, reviews ingredients for toxicology, and ensures AG1 label claims are accurate.

In order to certify a product, NSF conducts extensive audits of productions and production facilities. The final and most rigorously audited round is the NSF Certified for Sport® certification.

NSF Certified for Sport® tests dietary supplements for over 280 banned substances, covering a wide range of stimulants, steroids, diuretics, masking agents, and other substances prohibited in sports. NSF Certified for Sport® also guarantees that products are manufactured in GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)-compliant facilities, where every batch is tested for contaminants and banned substances.

The certification is a rigorous, ongoing process—one AG1 has upheld since 2019. These align with global anti-doping regulations, including the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND

Because third-party testing is vital for ensuring the quality and safety of dietary supplements, it’s important that testing happens throughout the entire product development process, in which AG1 partners with world-class testing and diagnostic organizations to ensure that raw materials and finished products meet our high standard for product quality and safety specs.

This includes:

• Testing every batch of AG1 using state of the art technology and instrumentation.
• Validation that every batch of AG1 passes label claims testing.
• Product release testing for harmful microbes and heavy metals.
• Comprehensive shelf life studies.
• Extensive allergens testing.
• Botanical ID and testing to ensure potency and purity of botanical ingredients.

In addition to NSF Certified for Sport® certification, we’re proud to partner with industry-leading organizations that are committed to excellence in testing, including IEH, Alkemist Labs, and Mérieux NutriSciences.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Here are a few things to look for when it comes to testing, all of which are rigorously tested for in AG1 Next Gen.

Heavy metals

Anything that comes from the ground, including fruits, vegetables, and even drinking water, is likely to contain some heavy metals.

AG1 is tested to ensure levels of heavy metals are below the guidelines set by US Pharmacopeia (USP) and NSF International, two independent, third-party organizations that set rigorous standards for safety, quality, and compliance. USP guidelines are widely used as a regulatory standard for pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements and food ingredients. USP guidelines are widely used as a regulatory standard for pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements and food ingredients.

This includes:

• Lead
• Mercury
• Cadmium
• Arsenic

Allergens

Common allergens:

• Gluten (Wheat, Rye, Barley) (<20ppm)
• Milk
• Egg
• Peanut

Pesticides & herbicides

Chemicals used in agriculture can disrupt the gut and immune system, decreasing or blocking nutrient absorption.

Rather than relying solely on our suppliers and our rigorous internal standards, we periodically conduct additional third party testing for over 500 pesticides and herbicides, including:

• Glyphosate: This is an herbicide and commonly used weed killer in conventional farming. AG1 is certified Glyphosate Residue Free by The Detox Project. A third party ISO 17025 accredited laboratory tests AG1 to ensure it does not contain glyphosate residues, down to government-recognized limits of detection (LODs) for food, commodity and supplement samples.
• Atrazine: The second-most commonly used pesticide after glyphosate.
• AMPA: a byproduct of glyphosate

Microbes & toxins

Microbial testing is crucial for ensuring AG1 is safe to drink on a long-term daily basis.

We test for:

• Harmful bacteria, including Salmonella, E. coli, and Staphylococcus.
• Molds and yeasts that have been linked to immune disruption.
• Microbes that can produce toxic substances like mycotoxins and aflatoxins.

Banned substances

Banned substances include:

• Anabolic agents & beta blockers
• Beta-agonists & diuretics
• Hormone antagonists
• Masking agents
• Narcotics/cannabinoids
• Stimulants
• Selective androgen receptor modulators
• Metabolic modulators
• Growth hormone secretagogues

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH

The value of comprehensive research on how a product works cannot be ignored, especially when clinical testing is not a requirement. Since we launched AG1 in 2010, we’ve consistently upgraded our formula, guided by the latest scientific research, and we continue to build on our history of continuous improvement.

When considering a supplement product, here are a few things that signal rigorous research:

• RCTs (Randimized Controlled Trial): Widely accepted as the gold-standard in clinical trials, RCTs provide the strongest evidence for a causal link between intervention (the product) and outcome while minimizing bias. RCT methods include:
  • Randomization, which ensures that participants are assigned to intervention or control groups purely by chance, balancing known and unknown confounders
  • Control groups (the placebo or standard treatment group), which provide a basis for comparison
  • Blinding (i.e. preventing participants and/or researchers from knowing who receives the intervention or placebo), which reduces bias from participants and investigators
  • Predefined outcomes and protocols, which ensure consistency and replicability.
  • Statistical rigor, which helps confirm that outcomes are not due to chance.
• In-Vitro Trials: These are studies conducted outside of a living organism, typically in a controlled environment such as a laboratory dish or test tube. This includes the industry-leading method for replicating the gut environment. It consists of a series of interconnected sections, called bioreactors, which mimic the physiological and biological conditions of the human gut, including the stomach, small intestine, and different colon regions.
  • In-Vitro trials are critical to understanding how exactly AG1 works. For example, at AG1, our in-house team of scientists partnered with ProDigest to conduct studies on the effects of AG1 on the gut using a SHIME (Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem) model.
• Clinically-studied ingredients: It’s important to ensure the benefits of our products are thoroughly researched and claims are substantiated by research on ingredients. This means the effectiveness of specific ingredients have been tested in human clinical trials, and that there’s confidence that select ingredients are in the right dosages to have the intended impact.
• Peer-reviewed publications and results: Results are most meaningful when there’s a shared understanding of what the results mean and why they are important. To get here, it’s important that brands engage with the scientific community around the results of its studies. At AG1, we work with leading researchers to submit study abstracts and manuscripts to peer-reviewed scientific conferences and journals—contributing to the broader scientific dialogue on the vital role of nutrition and the microbiome in overall health. To date, our peer-reviewed publications include both literature reviews and research on the AG1 original formula. In addition, multiple clinical studies on AG1 Next Gen have been completed, and several abstracts have been accepted at national scientific conferences. As the leader in foundational nutrition, AG1 is committed to continuing to conduct peer-reviewed, independent research on the complete formula of all future products.

FORM FACTOR & BIOAVAILABILITY

When it comes to nutrition at its most basic level, everything ladders up to physical absorption. You can consume as many nutritious ingredients as you like, but the crucial point is whether or not your body can actually take them in and use them. This is why looking for supplements that focus on bioavailability is so important. Bioavailability is the extent to which your body can absorb, distribute, and eliminate any given nutrient.

Bioavailability has always been an essential consideration for us. In fact, the driving belief behind AG1 is that high-quality ingredients combined with digestive support can improve the body’s ability to use the essential nutrients delivered. This is why AG1 Next Gen includes an upgraded blend of clinically-studied probiotics to support gut health and enhanced ingredients for improved bioavailability, including the methylated B complex. Furthermore, a recent clinical study showed that key nutrients in AG1 Next Gen including folate, vitamin C, zinc, calcium were significantly elevated in the blood after drinking AG1 Next Gen versus placebo. In addition, almost 90% of the measured nutrients were significantly elevated in the blood within 30 minutes of drinking AG1.¹

When it comes to bioavailability, the form factor of a supplement does play a significant role. Powders like AG1 are generally easily absorbed into the body, and with less time required to break down what’s inside. In earlier in vitro testing using a prior version of AG1, it was found that minerals were more bioaccessible (meaning more available for absorption) when delivered in a powder format compared to a tablet. While this research was done on a previous formula, it supports the idea that the powder format may help the body better access key nutrients.²

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Part of cleaning up the aisle is helping customers be more efficient with their supplement stack. With so many products and brands flooding the market, it’s easy to default to single-function supplements that help target certain benefits, but don’t always focus on overall health and building the best foundation for everyday nutrition. That’s where AG1 comes in. AG1 Next Gen is a more-in-one solution that replaces separate needs for multivitamins, probiotics and superfoods, blending them into one formula to support foundational health, including gut health and support for immune defense and energy. It’s whole body benefits in one scoop vs. many:

• Gut Health & Digestion: AG1 supports gut health with easy-to-absorb ingredients that boost digestion and help ease bloating. AG1 Next Gen includes five new clinically-studied probiotic strains that play a unique role in digestive and immune health, including maintaining regularity and bloating. *
• Energy Production:An enhanced B complex including methylated B vitamins help support energy without the afternoon crash.*
• Healthy Brain & Mood: Vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants support a healthy mood and the nervous system.*
• Immune Defense: Your daily dose of antioxidants, probiotics, and functional mushrooms to support overall immune health.*

It’s important to feel more confident when evaluating your current supplement stack, or searching for new ones. Understanding the value and importance of research and testing is critical to making an informed decision, especially when there are so many brands and products available on the market. To learn more about how AG1 is prioritizing quality and testing, check out these additional resources.

• AG1’s Approach To Clinical Research
• Heavy Metals + Approach To Testing
• Understanding NSF

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

¹ In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover clinical trial assessing nutrient gaps and bioavailability in 16 healthy adults ages 18-42 over the course of 8 hours.

² Based on an in vitro study conducted using a previous AG1 formula, with stool samples from three donors and a simulated digestive tract model (SHIME), under controlled laboratory conditions. For more information, visit https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0464/2/4/41