Dietary supplements: How to avoid fake products



CBD risks and the chance to rein in supplements

With medical and recreational marijuana being legalized in states across the country, cannabis and related products are hitting an eager market, but often without scientific studies to back up product claims.


Don't make your own sunscreen, physician advises

Concerns about chemicals have led do-it-yourselfers (DIY) to make everything from laundry detergent and soap to deodorant and toothpaste at home using natural ingredients.

Medical research

Timed release of turmeric stops cancer cell growth

A Washington State University research team has developed a drug delivery system using curcumin, the main ingredient in the spice turmeric, that successfully inhibits bone cancer cells while promoting growth of healthy bone ...


Marijuana and fertility: Five things to know

For patients who smoke marijuana and their physicians, "Five things to know about ... marijuana and fertility" provides useful information for people who may want to conceive. The practice article is published in CMAJ (Canadian ...

Oncology & Cancer

Q&A: Tanning beds raise risk for skin cancer

Dear Mayo Clinic: My daughter and her friends are all talking about going to a tanning bed. I suggested to my daughter that she get a spray tan instead, but I don't think I've convinced her since she's under the impression ...

Medical research

Researchers create a better way to transport life-saving vaccines

Researchers at McMaster University have invented a stable, affordable way to store fragile vaccines for weeks at a time at temperatures up to 40C, opening the way for life-saving anti-viral vaccines to reach remote and impoverished ...

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An ingredient is a substance that forms part of a mixture (in a general sense). For example, in cooking, recipes specify which ingredients are used to prepare a specific dish. Many commercial products contain a secret ingredient that is purported to make them better than competing products. In the pharmaceutical industry, an active ingredient is that part of a formulation that yields the effect required by the customer.

National laws usually require prepared food products to display a list of ingredients, and specifically require that certain additives be listed.

In most developed countries, the law requires that ingredients be listed according to their relative weight in the product. If an ingredient itself consists of more than one ingredient (such as the cookie pieces which are a part of "cookies and cream" flavor ice cream), then that ingredient is listed by what percentage of the total product it occupies, with its own ingredients displayed next to it in brackets.
