TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Gummy vitamins for adults can do more harm than good because they might contain too much Vitamin A, causing unhealthy side effects, and too many preservatives and sugar to mask the taste, a study by ConsumerLab.com in the United States found.
Out of 50 multivitamins tested in the United States and Canada, 80 percent of the gummies failed to make the status of dietary supplements, Britain’s Daily Mail reported.
As many gummies are not tested in the way official medications are, many do not have the ingredients listed on the packaging, the paper reported. The research found a dozen of the multivitamins containing a range of nutrients from 24 percent less to 157 percent more than listed.
Nutritionists quoted by the Daily Mail say the gummies have been treated with too much food coloring, preservatives and even the wrong vitamins. Vitamin A can cause dizziness, headaches, joint pain and even heart disease.
Because they look like candy, the gummies are especially attractive to children, but they are not health food, as the high sugar content will create more problems while the nutrients will not be absorbed.
The nutritionists advise consumers to look carefully at the labels of what they buy and to stick to 100-percent whole-food tablets.