Our Industry-Leading Quality Standards: Vitamins & Supplements

Our standards — the highest in the industry — set a new bar for quality. Before adding a product to our virtual shelves, we look at five key areas to determine if it’s Thrive Market Approved: Trusted Ingredients, Ethical Sourcing, Planet Positive, On a Mission, and Tasted & Tested. From restricting 1,000+ ingredients across categories to prioritizing certified organic options, we’re proud to do the heavy lifting for you. Our goal? That you trust our products for you, your family, and our planet. 

Here’s a closer look at our approach to the vitamins and supplements we carry, including restricted ingredients, our better-made options, and opportunities for you to learn more. 

What We Stand For: Potent Vitamins & Supplements

We can tell you exactly what goes into each vitamin and supplement we sell — no mysterious wellness products here. We require our vendors to lab-test the pills, powders, lozenges, and other supplements we carry for potency, so you can be sure they contain exactly what they’re supposed to and that they really work, too. While you care about your own health, we know you also care about the health of our planet; that’s why we seek out and verify products that are certified organic, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and Fair Trade to ensure they are sourced from ethical and sustainable sources. We also prioritize packaging materials that minimize environmental impact whenever possible when choosing which vitamins and supplements we think you’ll love. 

What We Leave Out: Breaking Down Our Ingredient Restrictions

Before we add a product to our virtual shelves, we carefully review its makeup against our list of 1,000+ restricted ingredients. Placing restrictions means we will allow certain ingredients only if they’re used within safe concentrations. And in many cases, we go further to ban certain ingredients outright. Here’s an overview of the types of ingredients we restrict and a few examples of those that end up on our “never” list.

Hydrogenated fats & fat substitutes  

Hydrogenated fats and fat substitutes are fats that have been chemically altered in order to preserve their shelf life (and in the case of vitamins and supplements, their time in your medicine cabinet). This creates trans fats, which significantly increase the risk of heart disease and stroke and are widely considered to be the most harmful type of fat you can consume. We are committed to prohibiting hydrogenated fats in order to keep trans fats out of your health and wellness routine. 

For brain, heart, and eye support* without hydrogenated oils try: wellmade Fish Oil

For vitamin D3 + K2 softgels made with coconut MCT oil instead of hydrogenated fats, try: Sports Research D3 + K2

For vitamin gummies coated with carnauba wax instead of hydrogenated oils to keep them from sticking together, try: MaryRuth’s Women’s Organic Multivitamin Gummies, Cherry & Raspberry

Solvents & flavor carriers

These ingredients are sometimes used in vitamins and supplements to distribute coatings or other ingredients that don’t easily dissolve. Polyethylene glycol, for example, is a synthetic compound used to coat pills and tablets, but it’s made from ethylene glycol — the same compound used in making plastic. To keep the plastic coatings off of your vitamins, we opt for products that use plant-derived cellulose coatings like hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) or methylcellulose (MC), or even a blend of plant-derived organic ingredients like tapioca maltodextrin, sunflower lecithin, palm oil, and guar gum.

For vitamins coated only in plant-based materials, try: Garden of Life mykind Organics Women’s 40+, Whole Food Multivitamin or New Chapter Bone Strength Take Care Supplement 

For stress relief in a vegan capsule made from hypromellose, not polyethylene glycol, try: Gaia Herbs Ashwagandha Root

Synthetic sweeteners & high-fructose corn syrup

Acesulfame-K, advantame, aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose are all common sweeteners you might see on the table at your local diner to stir into coffee, but you’ll never find them here. Many supplement brands also use high fructose corn syrup, which is an all-too-common sweetener most often made from GMO corn and is often linked to obesity and other health issues. Instead, we only allow sweeteners and sugars that occur in nature, including maple syrup, honey, and agave, plus naturally derived sweeteners like cane, beet, and coconut sugars, allulose, sugar alcohols, stevia, and monkfruit.

For soothing cough relief* without the high fructose corn syrup, try: Quantum Health Cough Relief Lozenges in Meyer Lemon

To relieve sore throats with organic fruit juices and honey, not synthetic sweeteners, try: Lolleez Organic Throat Soothing Pops for Kids, Variety Pack

For a stress-relieving nightcap sweetened with monk fruit extract, try: Moon Juice Magnesi-Om

Synthetic colors & color compounds

Vitamins and supplements come in a bevy of colors, from bright green superfood powders to jewel-toned gummy vitamins. Unfortunately, this often means they’re also made with synthetic colors and color compounds to create those faux hues. Here, we only accept vitamins and supplements in colors that come from real sources, such as turmeric, chlorophyll, and spirulina. We don’t allow azo dyes, which are potentially linked to hyperactivity in children; this group includes dyes like Citrus Red No. 2. We also restrict “nature-identical colors,” which are colors that can be found in nature, but are made in a lab (such as synthetic beta-carotene).

For a superfood supplement that gets its vibrant color from nature, try: wellmade by Thrive Market Organic Greens & More Superfood Blend

To alleviate sore throats with natural honey and fruit juices, not synthetic colors, try: Beekeeper’s Nautrals Kid’s Throat Soothing Lollipops

For superfood gummies that get their golden hue from natural turmeric, try: Garden of Life myKind Organics Inflammatory Response Turmeric Gummies

Color retention & antioxidants

To preserve the potency or appearance of certain vitamins and supplements, you’ll sometimes find controversial antioxidants — but never at Thrive Market. We ban ingredients like BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), synthetic antioxidants that have been linked to endocrine disruption, allergic reactions, and in the case of BHA, has even been classified as a possible carcinogen. Instead, we opt for ingredients like rosemary extract, tocopherols (vitamin E), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and green tea extract that act as natural preservatives.

For a fish oil preserved with rosemary extract instead of synthetic antioxidants, try: Nordic Naturals Liquid Omega 3

For heart support using tocopherols (Vitamin E) as a preservative, try: Thorne Super EPA

For a prenatal vitamin that uses d-alpha tocopherol instead of synthetic antioxidants, try: Nordic Naturals Prenatal DHA 

Artificial flavors & flavor enhancers

Sure, vitamins and supplements aren’t always known for their great taste, but we’ll still never use artificial flavors to mask the flavors of stronger-tasting products (looking at you, fish oil!). While synthetic ethyl vanillin is commonly used to add flavor to protein powders, at Thrive Market, we only carry vanilla-flavored products that use real, pure vanilla or natural vanilla flavor. And instead of using flavor enhancers like disodium inosinate to add savory taste to sports nutrition products, we only carry brands that get their umami flavor (and their nutrients) from beneficial ingredients like bone broth. From capsules to lozenges, you’ll only find products flavored with things like fruits, vegetables, herbs, honey, and minerals — and sometimes even chocolate.

For a tasty protein powder without artificial flavor, try: Thrive Market Vanilla Organic Whey Protein Powder

To deliver kid-friendly hydration and flavor from citric acid, Himalayan sea salt, and natural lemon, try: Cure Hydration Kids Pink Lemonade Hydration Mix

For a chocolaty flavored protein powder from real cacao, try: Four Sigmatic Organic Chocolate Protein

*Information, statements, and reviews regarding products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Results vary person to person, and there is no guarantee of specific results. Thrive Market assumes no liability for inaccuracies or misstatements about products.

Learn More About Our Quality Standards

Behind the Scenes With the Team That Guides Our Industry-Leading Product Standards

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Our Industry-Leading Quality Standards: Meat & Poultry

Our Industry-Leading Quality Standards: Beauty, Bath & Body Care

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