Gummies provide an attractive alternative to pill vitamins and liquid formulations; however, their use presents challenges relating to shelf life, bioavailability and nutritional content.
Children may treat gummies like candy, which can lead to overconsumption and lead to vitamin or mineral toxicity in kids. Furthermore, gummies contain ingredients such as sugar, citric acid, food colorings made with glucose syrups, gelatinous materials as well as gelatin that may pose problems for vegetarians or vegans.
Flavors
Minerals have long been an established staple of dietary supplement industry, fitting seamlessly in alongside vitamins and herbs. But today’s ingredient industry is revamping this category by developing innovative delivery methods and tasty flavors, to the benefit of both brand owners and consumers.
Gummy vitamins are increasingly popular with both children and adults, who often prefer them over pills or capsules for easy consumption. Furthermore, these may help individuals who struggle with swallowing issues to consume their daily vitamins.
Cypress Nutrition of Warrington, PA provides a multivitamin product containing calcium, vitamin C and zinc as well as other beneficial ingredients like aloe vera, probiotics and folic acid. Sweetness comes from organic tapioca syrup, organic sugar and natural fruit flavorings while the product is NSF certified gluten-free and free of artificial sweeteners and preservatives.
But it doesn’t provide enough iodine (found in fish, dairy foods and iodized salt) or iron for healthy living; furthermore it contains pork-derived gelatin and the color additive carmine which may render it unsuitable for vegetarian or kosher diets; nor does it meet daily magnesium, zinc or calcium requirements.
Palatability
Palatability of mineral gummies is an integral aspect that determines both the quality and quantity of nutrition consumed by animals. It serves to direct food intake, contributing to high intakes of sugar, salt and fat-containing foods – leading to obesity risks as well as related pathologies.
Palatability is often defined in terms of momentary subjective orosensory pleasure or taste and does not consider post-ingestive reactions or feedback from an animal’s digestive tract. A more functional definition would assess an animal’s physiological needs when considering food palatability.
Gummy vitamins are made using ingredients such as sugar, citric acid, flavorings, glucose syrup made from glucose, food coloring and gelatin (or alternative vegan materials such as agar-agar or carrageenan). Some manufacturers add sanding to the gummies in order to reduce stickiness and make them easier for users to chew.
Bioavailability
Gummies typically contain sugar, citric acid, flavorings, glucose syrup, food colorings and ingredients such as Irish moss (carrageenan), tapioca dextrin and vegetable gum, making them less appealing for consumers seeking to limit added sugars or who adhere to vegan diets or have nonconforming beliefs. This may reduce their appeal for some customers.
Gummy vitamins present an additional difficulty when it comes to bioavailability compared with pills. Studies have revealed that liquid supplements tend to be more easily absorbed than solid vitamins, which may get lost during digestion.
Many mineral gummies utilize chelated ingredients for increased absorption. Chelation reduces unwanted interactions with enzymes and other minerals in the body and also allows methylated vitamins that work well for those with MTHFR gene mutations – for instance methylated folate (vitamin B9) and B12 as examples – but too much methylation could potentially lead to toxicities (see our article on how to protect against this). Still, many consumers still prefer gummies due to their delicious taste!
Supplement Facts
Gummies derive their sweet flavor from added sugars, making them potentially problematic for those trying to reduce their daily sugar consumption. Furthermore, some gummies contain citric acid which may erode tooth enamel over time.
The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate dietary supplements in the same way that it regulates pharmaceutical drugs, so some gummies may contain lower levels of nutrients than indicated on their labels. Furthermore, there may be multivitamin and mineral products marketed as MVMs that fail to include all required components, including folic acid, magnesium and melatonin.
Because some minerals have distinctive textures and flavors that make them difficult to incorporate into gummies, inclusion can sometimes prove challenging. Iron has an unpleasant metallic taste which makes it hard to mask in candy products like Nature Made’s fruit-flavored iron gummy. Furthermore, certain gummies contain gelatin which comes from animal bones and tissues and is therefore non-vegan.
