Vitamin E
Of 11,803 on-market vitamin e products in the January 2026 DSLD dump, the median declared dose is 25 mg, and 57.6% list D-Alpha-Tocopherol (natural, free form) as the primary form.
Form share
Of 11,031 products with an identifiable primary form, here is the share held by each form of Vitamin E on the market today.
| Form | Quality tier | n | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-Alpha-Tocopherol (natural, free form) | Tier 1 | 6,351 | 57.6% |
| D-Alpha-Tocopheryl Succinate (natural, esterified) | Tier 1 | 2,717 | 24.6% |
| DL-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate (synthetic) | Tier 2 | 1,711 | 15.5% |
| Mixed Tocopherols | Unrated | 234 | 2.1% |
| D-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate (natural, esterified) | Tier 1 | 18 | 0.2% |
Form share over time
Entry-year breakdown of the top forms, 2012–2025.
Dose distribution
Deciles of declared dose per serving (mg), among 10,780 products with a disclosed amount, against the RDA of 15 and UL of 1000.
- 1.1% of products don't disclose an amount because Vitamin E is declared inside a proprietary blend.
By dosage form
By target group
Top brands
| Brand | Products |
|---|---|
| Douglas Laboratories | 336 |
| Carlson | 242 |
| DC | 215 |
| Centrum | 185 |
| Wonder Laboratories | 170 |
| Nature's Way | 139 |
| Nature Made | 135 |
| Bluebonnet | 132 |
| The Vitamin Shoppe | 131 |
| Life Extension | 121 |
| Pure Encapsulations | 105 |
| Source Naturals | 103 |
| MegaFood | 102 |
| NOW | 102 |
| Country Life | 101 |
| Metagenics | 94 |
| Bayer One A Day | 89 |
| New Chapter | 89 |
| Puritan's Pride | 87 |
| GNC Mega Men | 85 |
| Vitamin World | 82 |
| 21st Century | 79 |
| Airborne | 70 |
| Higher Nature | 70 |
| Nutri-West | 69 |
Forms explained
Natural RRR-alpha-tocopherol has roughly double the human bioavailability/tissue retention of synthetic all-rac-alpha-tocopherol -- the basis for FDA's 1mg-natural=2mg-synthetic label-claim conversion.
Source: Burton GW et al. 1998, Am J Clin Nutr 67(4):669-84, PMID 9537614
Ester efficiently hydrolyzed to free tocopherol on absorption; same natural-vs-synthetic bioavailability edge applies.
Source: Burton GW et al. 1998, PMID 9537614
Same rationale as the acetate ester -- esterification does not meaningfully change post-hydrolysis bioavailability; natural-form advantage over synthetic still applies.
Source: Burton GW et al. 1998, PMID 9537614
Synthetic all-rac form has roughly half the biological activity/tissue retention of the natural RRR form, explicitly reflected in FDA's 2:1 label-claim discount.
Source: Burton GW et al. 1998, PMID 9537614
A mixed alpha/beta/gamma/delta blend has different overall biological activity than isolated alpha-tocopherol (RDA/label math counts only the alpha fraction), but no comparative-potency study for this specific commercial blend was verified.
Source: uncertain -- needs review
Reference values
- RDA (adult): 15 mg
- Tolerable Upper Intake Level (adult): 1000 mg — Applies to any form of supplemental alpha-tocopherol
- Studied clinical dose range: ?–180 mg
- Klein EA et al. 2011 (SELECT trial), JAMA 306(14):1549-1556 -- 400 IU/day (180mg) synthetic dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate x~5.5yr median significantly increased prostate cancer risk (HR 1.17) vs placebo in >35,000 healthy men. [PMID cited inconsistently across sources as 21990298 vs 21990336 -- verify before publishing.] No single pinned low-dose comparator RCT was confidently identified -- left null rather than guessed.
- Note: IU->mg conversion depends on natural vs synthetic form: 1 IU natural (RRR-alpha- tocopherol, incl. esters) = 0.67mg; 1 IU synthetic (all-rac-alpha-tocopherol, incl. esters) = 0.45mg (FDA Guidance for Industry, Aug 2019, Tables 5-6). Equivalently, 1mg natural label-claim = 2mg synthetic.