Every dietary supplement sold in the U.S. is required to carry a Supplement Facts panel. It looks a lot like a nutrition label — and that's roughly the point — but a couple of its conventions trip people up regularly. Here's what each part actually means.
Serving size and servings per container
This tells you what one "serving" is (one gummy, one capsule, one scoop) and how many servings are in the container. Every other number on the panel — calories, sugar, the blend total — is per serving, not per container. If a label says "30 servings" and the suggested use is one per day, that's a 30-day supply; check this against the suggested use directions, since the two don't always line up on every product.
%DV (Percent Daily Value)
Where it appears, %DV tells you how much of an established daily reference intake one serving provides for a specific, individually-studied nutrient (like sodium or a vitamin). You'll notice %DV is usually missing next to botanical ingredients — that's normal. The FDA hasn't established formal Daily Values for most botanicals, so labels typically mark these with a footnote like "Daily Value not established" rather than leaving you to assume it's zero or unimportant.
Proprietary blends
This is the line that causes the most confusion. A "proprietary blend" lists a group of ingredients together under one combined weight (for example, "82mg") instead of breaking out how much of each individual ingredient is in that total. It's legal, common, and often used to protect a specific formula ratio from being copied by competitors.
The trade-off: you can't tell from the label alone whether an ingredient makes up most of that blend or a tiny fraction of it. If a specific ingredient amount matters to you — say, you want to match the dose used in a study you read — a proprietary blend won't give you that information, and you'd need to look for a product that discloses individual amounts instead.
"Other ingredients"
Below the main facts panel, most labels list "other ingredients" — the non-active components like sweeteners, gelatin or gum bases (for gummies), fillers, flavors, and preservatives. This is the section to check for common allergens or anything you're personally trying to avoid (added sugar, specific gum/gelatin sources, artificial dyes, and so on).
Manufacturing claims: GMP, FDA-registered, Non-GMO
You'll often see claims like "GMP Certified," "FDA-Registered Facility" or "Non-GMO" near the label. It's worth understanding precisely what these do and don't mean:
- GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certification relates to the manufacturing process — quality control, sanitation, record-keeping — not the specific product's effectiveness.
- "FDA-registered facility" means the facility itself is registered with the FDA, which is required for most supplement manufacturers. It does not mean the FDA has approved, tested or endorsed the specific product — the FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they go to market.
- "Non-GMO" refers to the sourcing of ingredients, generally verified by the brand rather than an independent government body unless a specific third-party seal (like the Non-GMO Project) is shown.
None of these claims are a substitute for reading the actual ingredient list and talking to a doctor about anything you're unsure of — see our guide to questions worth asking before trying something new.
The bottom line
A Supplement Facts panel is more informative than most people give it credit for — once you know what each line is actually telling you. Serving size sets the baseline for everything else, %DV only applies to nutrients with an established reference intake, proprietary blends hide individual amounts (not the ingredients themselves), and manufacturing claims describe process and facility standards rather than a government endorsement of the product. Read the whole label, not just the front of the bottle.