How to check a food supplement before you buy, and whom to trust

The short answer

Check a food supplement against five points in the paperwork, not by eye and not by reviews. Start with the label: in the EU it must show the daily serving, the amount of each substance per serving and the name and address of the company responsible for the product. Then check the promises on the jar and the factory's standards.

Stivits is an online shop selling supplements under its own brand, not a pharmacy. We sell 105 of our own products, so we will tell you both what checking gives you and what it will not show. A factory certificate is not the same as testing every jar, and you cannot check what is inside a particular jar yourself.

  • The label. Under Directive 2002/46/EC it shows the recommended daily serving, the amount of each substance per serving, a warning not to exceed the dose and a statement that a supplement is not a substitute for a varied diet.
  • The responsible company. Under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 the label carries the name and address of the company under whose name the product is sold. The factory does not have to be named if it is a different company.
  • Promises. In the EU only health claims from the EU register are allowed. A supplement may not promise to treat or prevent a disease.
  • GMP, HACCP and ISO 22000 certificates cover the factory and its processes. They do not prove what a particular supplement does.

What to check and where to find it

There are five things you can check: the label, the company responsible for the product, the health claims, the factory's certificates, and the ingredients with their doses. All of it is visible before you buy: on the pack, on the product page and on the brand's website. You do not need a lab test of your own.

What to checkWhere to find itWhat should be there
LabelThe pack and the pack photos on the product pageThe daily serving, a warning not to exceed it, a statement that a supplement is not a substitute for a varied diet, and a note to keep it out of reach of young children
Responsible companyThe label, the About page on the brand's websiteThe name and address of the company under whose name the product is sold
ClaimsThe label, the product page, advertisingOnly wording from the EU register. No promises to prevent, treat or cure diseases
Factory certificatesThe brand's website, the section on productionGMP, HACCP, ISO 22000. They are about the factory and its processes, not about what the supplement does
Ingredients and doseThe label and the product pageEvery ingredient and the amount of each per daily serving. Substances new to the EU only from the EU list

Check what the dose refers to. Under EU rules, amounts are given per daily serving. If a serving is two capsules, one capsule holds half the dose shown in the table on the label.

Which promises a supplement may make in the EU

In the EU a supplement may carry only health claims from the EU register. The rules are set by Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, and the list of permitted wording was adopted by Regulation (EU) No 432/2012. The label, presentation and advertising may not attribute to a supplement the ability to prevent, treat or cure a disease. A promise like that on a jar breaks the rules.

The second thing to check in the ingredients is novel ingredients. A substance that was not consumed in the EU before 15 May 1997 can be sold only once it has been authorised and added to the EU list (Regulation (EU) 2015/2283). If you see an unfamiliar substance and the seller does not explain what it is, ask before you buy.

A simple rule: the louder the promise on the jar, the more carefully you should read it. In the EU a supplement may not promise to cure a disease.

What GMP, HACCP and ISO 22000 mean, and what they do not prove

GMP, HACCP and ISO 22000 are about the factory and its processes, not about a particular jar. They are standards for production and food safety, and the certificate is issued to the factory. None of them proves what a particular supplement does or what is inside every jar.

  • GMP: good manufacturing practice, following the Food Supplements Europe guide.
  • HACCP: principles under Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.
  • ISO 22000:2018: the international standard for food safety management.

What certificates do not prove: that every jar has been tested, or that the supplement will work. So a certificate is no substitute for the full ingredients and dose on the product page.

What checking will not show

Checking the paperwork and the label will not show you what is in a particular jar. A factory certificate is not the same as testing every jar. Reviews show the service, not the ingredients. You cannot test the contents yourself. So you check what is available to you: the label, the company, the claims and the factory's standards.

Reviews are useful, but for something else. They show how the order arrived, how it was packed and how the seller responds. A review cannot tell you how much of a substance is in a capsule. Stivits is rated 4.9 out of 5 on Judge.me from 944 reviews (data as of 6 November 2026), and that too is a rating of the service, not an analysis of the ingredients.

If the brand's website says nothing about where testing is done and where the raw materials come from, write to the seller and ask.

How it works at Stivits

Stivits is a brand of the Estonian company HYPERPHARM OÜ (Tallinn, registry code 14669221, Narva mnt 7). The product is sold under its name, and it sells the products itself, with no wholesalers or pharmacies in between. The supplements are made in the EU at a factory certified to GMP, HACCP and ISO 22000:2018; testing is done in the factory's laboratory and in external accredited laboratories.

  • Raw materials come mostly from large European manufacturers and suppliers, such as BASF, Lehmann & Voss & Co. KG, Brenntag and Roquette. Not every product contains raw materials from all four.
  • The factory: almost 100 employees (manufacturer's data as of 10 November 2026), certified to GMP, HACCP and ISO 22000:2018.
  • The product page: every ingredient, the dose per serving and how many days a jar lasts. The same information is on the pack.
  • The range: 105 products under our own brand. We do not sell medicines.

For example, the page for Vitamin D3 4000 IU shows the ingredients, the dose per serving and how long the jar lasts: 180 capsules for 180 days, €9.89 (price as of 14 November 2026). The pages for Zinc 25 mg and Magnesium citrate 400 mg + B6 work the same way.

The same caveat applies to us as to any brand: our factory certificate is not the same as testing every jar either. How production works and what the standards mean is explained on our About page. The ingredients of every product are open in the catalog.

Signs a supplement is not worth buying

Skip a supplement if its label has no company and address, no daily serving or no amount per serving, or if it promises to treat diseases. You can check each of these signs in a few minutes before you pay.

  • No company name or address. It is unclear who is responsible for the product.
  • No daily serving, or no amount of each substance per serving. Directive 2002/46/EC requires them on the label.
  • The mandatory warnings are missing: do not exceed the recommended dose, a supplement is not a substitute for a varied diet, keep out of reach of young children.
  • A promise to cure or prevent a disease. Such claims are banned in the EU.
  • An unfamiliar ingredient with no explanation. Substances new to the EU are allowed only once added to the EU list.
  • A certificate shown instead of the ingredients. GMP or ISO on a website is no substitute for a full ingredient list and the dose per serving.

FAQ

How can I check a supplement's quality before buying?

Check the label and the paperwork: the daily serving and the amount of each substance per serving, the name and address of the responsible company, health claims only from the EU register, and the factory's certificates. At Stivits, the full ingredients, the dose per serving and how long a jar lasts are on the pack and on every product page.

What does GMP on a supplement jar mean?

GMP is good manufacturing practice, following the Food Supplements Europe guide. The certificate covers the factory and its processes and does not prove what a particular supplement does. Stivits supplements are made in the EU at a factory certified to GMP, HACCP and ISO 22000:2018; testing is done in the factory's laboratory and in external accredited laboratories.

Can I trust supplement reviews?

You can trust reviews on what they cover: delivery, packaging and how the seller works. You cannot check the ingredients from reviews, and you cannot run a lab test yourself. Stivits is rated 4.9 out of 5 on Judge.me from 944 reviews (data as of 6 November 2026), but that too rates the service. Look at the label and the product page for the ingredients.

How do I find out who is responsible for a supplement?

Look at the label: in the EU it must carry the name and address of the company under whose name the product is sold (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011). The factory does not have to be named if it is a different company. Stivits is a brand of HYPERPHARM OÜ, Narva mnt 7, Tallinn, registry code 14669221. The product is sold under its name, and it sells with no intermediaries.

What must be on a food supplement label in the EU?

Under Directive 2002/46/EC the label shows the substances that characterise the product, the recommended daily serving and the amount of each substance per serving. It must also carry a warning not to exceed the recommended daily dose, a statement that a supplement is not a substitute for a varied diet, and a note to keep it out of reach of young children.

Stivits products and pages

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Powiązane poradniki

  • Vitamins at a pharmacy or direct from the manufacturer: which works out cheaper, and when: A pharmacy is more convenient when you need a supplement today, want a pharmacist's advice or are buying it with your medicines. Buying direct from the manufacturer works out cheaper for things you take for months: Stivits sells its own products, with no wholesalers or pharmacies in between, and a large jar keeps the price per day low. Vitamin D3 4000 IU from Stivits costs €0.055 per day (180 capsules for €9.89, price as of 14 November 2026). Compare the price per day, not the price per pack: divide the price by the number of days it lasts. What you give up by buying direct: we dispatch your order by the next working day and it takes another 1–2 working days to reach the parcel locker, the minimum order is €15, and we do not sell medicines.
  • Where to buy Stivits supplements in Riga and Tallinn: Stivits supplements are sold online at stivits.com. Orders in Latvia ship from our warehouse in Riga and orders in Estonia from our warehouse in Tallinn, by the next working day. A parcel locker delivery takes 1–2 working days and is free for orders from €15, which is also the minimum order; a courier is free from €25.
  • Supplements not to take together: what matters and what is a myth: Only a few supplement pairs matter at everyday doses. Taken in the same meal, 165–600 mg of calcium cut iron absorption by 50–60%, and tea cut it by 79–94%. So take iron at a different time from calcium, tea and coffee. Take psyllium ½–1 hour apart from other supplements. Zinc affects copper at 50 mg a day or more for weeks. Calcium and magnesium together are fine: the EU Scientific Committee on Food wrote in 2006 that the idea of them competing 'is not the case under physiological conditions'.

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