This is still a work in progress but it functions fine.
My previous post was a simple database of company data showing ingredient sourcing/location. That took 10 days, this has taken me close to 9 months. BackOfLabel is an extension of that initial interest with dosage information at the product & ingredient level.
This update allows sorting by many more attributes at the product level (for 4000+ products at the moment) of manually scraped data.
Now, for instance you can sort by specific types of ingredient - eg. filter by magnesium glycinate , magnesium orotate or any combination. eg. find ubiquinol or ubiquinone, two forms of coenzyme q10. This is useful for consumers but also companies seeking competitor analysis.
You are able to filter products by
– Ingredient – Filter by liquid, tablet, capsule, powder & more – Browse by UPC Code – Dosage Information – No. Individual Serving – No. Manufacturer Serving – Total Dosage
For example You can also search by type of protein powder - eg. search for whey protein powder and find the dosage information for many products instantly.
It frustrates me and I think the way that people buy supplements is wrong. And they don't know any better because there are incentive structures that keep them in the dark. This is a small effort to combat the misleading labeling and lack of regulation in the industry.
full disclosure - i've provided a generic affiliate link in the table that means i earn a small percentage (5%) of total cart if you purchase through the link
note: browse on desktop to filter & sort
I ask because I consume and browse a lot of supplements and have never come across (or have never noticed) most of the above on any supplements I’ve ever considered.
Also, adding my two cents on things I care about when buying supplements:
- does this contain as much as it says it does?
- how does this ingredient benefit me?
- how bioavailable is this form?
Comparing the above is a huge time sink because the information is either hard to find or unknown or speculative.
Since this is the top comment at posting - best way to request features is to follow on twitter https://twitter.com/backoflabel
signing up and logging in currently gives access to 4000+ rows (double the preview)
- Which supplements have a specific ingredient
- If they have the ingredient how much is in each capsule or pill
- The price per unit quantity of the ingredient
- Often I am looking for one specific compound, so I want to find only supplements that don't have any other compounds, or at least know exactly what other compounds are in their formula (without looking at each one individually)
- For supplements that are extracts, I want to know if they are standardized, what they are standardized to, and the % of that compound in the product.
- If there is a Certificate of Analysis (and what it says and a link to it would be great)
- If they are organic
- Country of origin
- If they are tested for heavy metals
- If the company has ever been found to have products that don't contain what they state, or are unsafe in another way, and how recently and how often
- If the products are freshness dated, and how long a shelf life is claimed
- Where to get them at the lowest price, including shipping
What I don't want is what Google does: I don't want to see other similar sounding compounds when searching for a specific one.
Also, are you planning to charge for access to this? Not sure if people will pay for it on a subscription basis. I wouldn't, because I only sometimes look for something new.
If regulators take over the supplement market it will be gone, everything will get 10x or 100x more expensive, and all that will be left is prescriptions. No thanks.
Also, this information is not disclosed for drugs either.
These companies rely on the fact that consumers can't easily verify the effectiveness of their products, so marketing is crucial for them. This is why we need independent verification just to determine what they're selling.
isn't there supposed to be some controls on dosage? the other ingredients we think are filler, but they are actually necessary to stabilize the active ingredients?
many questions
Tablets are cheaper to make than capsules, so you’ll at least have filler, if not binders as some molecules don’t stick together well. Other times they’ll stick together too well and not dissolve without something to help.
If you put a milligram of an active ingredient in a capsule, everyone will think you sold them empty capsules.
I remember when DIY soylent was popular there were a lot of stories of people messing up doses.
I would only do that if the lab/factory you're buying from is highly reputable. Heavy metals contamination is a problem in this industry.
It's cool to be able to see something like liposomal apegenin just scrolling through there -- which is a bit more common now but I would have been very happy to know there was a provider who made that before doing my due diligence.
It would be very cool to me to see what factories/locations this was produced at and/or a trust rating (though this could go south very quickly), but this may be too tall an ask for the task at hand. I see it referenced I guess but don't have too much reference point from the demo what that looks like. That by far seems to be the most valuable bitset of information, I personally believe.
Regardless, much appreciated at doing this hard work! I am sure there are many unrecognized hours that went into this, don't let a critical comments section get you down early, especially after what seems to be many many hours of work! :D :)
Kudos to OP for getting this out!
One piece of advice. Please show what you’ve built to non-technical online communities that really care about this stuff. I think you’ll find way more positive attention from older groups on Facebook, Reddit, and specialty supplement/patient/disease/exercise forums.
— WARNING —
Outside of FOSS, developer tools or “look what I made for my portfolio” projects, I really don’t know why people post affiliate or micro-SaaS things to HN.
Unless you already have some momentum, I would be extremely wary of posting “one man” ideas to HN. There are too many negative stories on here of people having not only their ideas stolen but people wholesale copying their content/data/UI.
The OnlineOrNot guy and a few others have complained about this a few times already.
Best of luck!
My recommendations are that if you're going to buy herbal supplements, buy them direct from domestic organic producers, ideally straight from the farmer online, and if you're going to buy other supplements, it's generally better to stay away from complex formulations, e.g. get pure vitamin C powder or pure glucosamine, in a gel capsule form, that ensures minimal handling and processing in perhaps-poorly-managed facilities.
It's good that peope are paying attention to sourcing, at least, but it's a complicated web to untangle.
As a user I'd be more interested in knowing which products have independent verification of contents, so I know the product is what it claims to be, and that the product isn't going to poison me with arsenic etc.
I don't currently take supplements, but spent a few days researching which supplements I should take, and got completely different answers from everyone I asked.
Tim Ferris's blog posts had one idea, some body hackers had others, reddit had other ideas. I wanted to improve my health but really felt like the information I was getting was conflicting. (if each source had given similar responses, I'd probably have taken the advice, but because it was was very inconsistent, I couldn't tell who was right and who was just trying to sell some sugar powder/syrup/tablet, so I stuck to wholesome foods instead).
I still would love to know what supplements are "no brainers" and should be taken to have a meaningful improvement on one's vitality, health, energy, and life.
You could also include independent analyses of what the supplement products actually contain, as opposed to manufacturer claims.
I just want to know from real people whether a given supplement worked well for them or not.
Bonus points if you can link scientific studies related to a supplement, so I don't have to search for them myself.
These are the main two issues I faced. I don't mind researching things myself, but the fake reviews really get on my nerves.
Well yeah, buying supplements in the first place is wrong, unless you are deficient in something specific for a specific reason.
The supplements industry is just one big scam.
Maybe not a billion dollar business, but hey it is an honest thing to try to sell.
Kevin
How expensive is testing?
