Serving Sizes
45.7% of 74,896 on-market capsule, tablet, softgel, gummy and lozenge products define one serving as two or more units, so the amount on the label is not the amount in one capsule.
Every amount on a Supplement Facts panel is "per serving", and for pills and gummies a serving is a count of units that the manufacturer picks. 15.5% of these products need three or more units per serving, and 6.4% need four or more. Comparing two bottles by the number printed on the front, or by price per capsule, is only fair when both define a serving the same way.
How many units make one serving
Embed this chart
Free to embed on your site or article — attribution and a link back are built into the frame.
| Form | Products | 1 unit | 2 units | 3 units | 4+ units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gummies | 2,888 | 21.5% | 64.9% | 7.9% | 5.7% |
| Capsules | 42,950 | 51.6% | 32.0% | 9.5% | 6.9% |
| Tablets & caplets | 18,207 | 58.8% | 23.5% | 9.9% | 7.8% |
| Softgels | 9,842 | 65.7% | 25.3% | 6.7% | 2.4% |
| Lozenges & chews | 1,009 | 73.6% | 17.1% | 4.3% | 5.0% |
Only products whose serving size is a count of capsules, tablets, caplets, softgels, gummies, lozenges or chews are included; powders, liquids and drops are measured in weight or volume instead. A serving that gives a range ("1–2 capsules") is counted at its upper end. Units are read from the label's first serving size (serving order 1), the same convention as every dose on this site.
Which compounds are most often split across several units
For each tracked compound, the median declared dose per serving next to the median dose in a single unit, among products that declare a count-based serving. Compounds with large doses in each capsule, such as most vitamins in a multivitamin, sit lower in the ranking; compounds that need grams per day, or whose capsules are small, sit higher.
| Compound | Products | Median per serving | Median per single unit | Serving is 2+ units | 3+ units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creatine | 120 | 2,500 mg | 732 mg | 90.8% | 70.8% |
| Chondroitin Sulfate | 909 | 400 mg | 225 mg | 80.6% | 43.0% |
| Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) | 1,090 | 500 mg | 200 mg | 78.5% | 40.0% |
| L-Citrulline | 232 | 500 mg | 233 mg | 78.0% | 47.8% |
| Chlorella | 337 | 150 mg | 50 mg | 75.7% | 46.0% |
| Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) | 472 | 300 mg | 150 mg | 75.0% | 46.8% |
| Glucosamine | 1,392 | 1,000 mg | 500 mg | 74.8% | 35.1% |
| L-Arginine | 834 | 414 mg | 178 mg | 73.0% | 32.7% |
| Collagen (Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides) | 595 | 200 mg | 120 mg | 72.8% | 33.6% |
| Hyaluronic Acid | 629 | 30 mg | 16.7 mg | 72.3% | 27.2% |
| Boron | 2,850 | 1 mg | 0.5 mg | 72.2% | 37.2% |
| N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) | 997 | 200 mg | 66.7 mg | 70.5% | 37.2% |
| Taurine | 861 | 150 mg | 62.5 mg | 70.0% | 34.8% |
| Quercetin | 1,229 | 100 mg | 50 mg | 69.8% | 33.2% |
| Bromelain | 1,199 | 60 mg | 40 mg | 69.7% | 33.8% |
Per-unit dose is the per-serving dose divided by units per serving, so it is exact only for products whose units all carry the same amount. Compounds with fewer than 100 count-form products are left out.
Directions can double the dose that one serving shows
98.3% of these labels state how many servings to take per day, and 35.5% of those allow two or more servings a day. For the seven compounds in Upper Limit Watch, the table compares the share of products over the adult upper limit for one serving with the share over it if the label's highest daily serving count is followed. A maximum in the directions is what the label allows, not a recommendation for anyone.
| Compound | Adult UL | Over UL, one serving | Over UL, max daily directions | Products with directions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niacin (Vitamin B3) | 35 mg NE | 29.6% | 35.8% | 11,634 |
| Magnesium | 350 mg | 9.0% | 14.9% | 13,820 |
| Zinc | 40 mg | 3.0% | 5.7% | 12,847 |
| Iron | 45 mg | 2.8% | 3.7% | 7,442 |
| Vitamin A | 3,000 mcg RAE | 1.6% | 3.3% | 2,374 |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | 100 mg | 1.2% | 2.1% | 14,655 |
| Selenium | 400 mcg | 1.1% | 1.7% | 7,432 |
Exceeding a UL is not automatically unsafe; it is a conservative population threshold, and it applies to total intake from all sources. Percentages here use products with a daily-servings range as the denominator, so they differ slightly from the Upper Limit Watch shares.