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ConsumerLab.com "Home Test" for Disintegration:
How can I be sure that my pill will break apart?
We frequently receive questions about how to make sure that a vitamin or other supplement breaks apart properly so that it can be absorbed. Many people write to tell us that their vitamins won't break apart in tests that they do at home.
The question is a good one. To be useful, most supplements must first disintegrate and dissolve in the gut for their ingredients to be absorbed and enter the bloodstream. Pills that don't disintegrate properly can't dissolve and be absorbed; they will simply pass through the body unused. The standard laboratory test for disintegration (part of the test formally known as the United States Pharmacopeia [USP] "Disintegration and Dissolution of Nutritional Supplements" method) attempts to mimic conditions in the gut. During the test, the product under investigation is continuously agitated in an acidic solution for up to 45 minutes. In that time, the pill should fall apart.
This disintegration test is one of the battery of tests to which ConsumerLab.com subjects all tablet and caplet products in its Product Reviews. If a product fails this test, it can not be listed as "Approved" by ConsumerLab.com. Some manufacturers claim their products meet the USP specification, although the claim shouldn't be taken as certainty.
Where this is most common?
Poor disintegration is most common with vitamin and mineral supplements. However, other products, including herbals, sold in tightly packed or heavily coated tablets or caplets, may also have poor disintegration, remaining intact after the 45-minute acid test. Most capsules, by contrast, fall apart easily, and most chewable products (as long as they're chewed) disintegrate. Poor disintegration can result from poor manufacturing practices and quality control.
The CL Home Test:
To determine for yourself your supplement's ability to disintegrate, try the following test (it isn't foolproof, but it does yield helpful information):
- Heat 1/2-cup of vinegar in a heat-safe cup on the hot-plate portion of a coffee machine to 98.6º F (body temperature). For a quick check of the temperature, use an instant-read thermometer, and don't allow it to rest on the bottom of the cup where heat is most intense, giving a false reading.
- Place a pill in the cup, then stir continuously for 30 to 45 minutes, without hitting the pill and keeping the temperature near 98.6º F. If necessary, move the cup on and off the heat to maintain a constant temperature.
- Uncoated or thinly coated products should disintegrate in about 30 minutes; gelatin-coated and hard-coated products may require the full time.
- Note: This test may not work with "time-release" or "sustained-release" products. And be aware that "chewable" products are meant to be broken down by chewing and "enteric-coated" products should not fully break apart in this test since they are supposed to release their ingredients farther down the gut in the intestines.
Remember, this test isn't as rigorous as a laboratory test, but it is more accurate than simply dropping the supplement into cold vinegar.
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