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Glossary

What is a proprietary blend in supplements?

Written by the Full Measure editorial team, which sells supplements. Approved for publication by the Full Measure owners. Updated .

Drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed below. How we write these

Quick answer

A proprietary blend is a group of ingredients listed on a Supplement Facts panel under one name, with only the total weight of the blend given. The ingredients appear in order from most to least by weight, but their individual amounts do not, so a 500 mg blend of five herbs shows 500 mg and five names.1,2

Key facts

  • Federal law requires either the quantity of each dietary ingredient or, for a proprietary blend, the total quantity of all the ingredients in the blend.3
  • The blend can be called Proprietary Blend or another descriptive or fanciful name, and the name may be bold.1
  • Vitamins and minerals with Daily Values must still be listed with their own amounts, even inside a blend.1,4
  • A 2023 paper by NIH, FDA and industry authors notes that blends let companies protect their formulas, but leave the amount of each ingredient unknown.2
  • A review of pre-workout products found that widespread blends often make direct comparisons between formulas impossible.5

How a blend appears on the panel

  • The blend's name, with the total weight of its ingredients on the same line, for example Herbal Blend 750 mg.1
  • The ingredients indented below the name, in descending order of weight, in a column or on one line.1,4
  • A symbol by the total that points to the footnote Daily Value not established.1
  • Any vitamin or mineral in the blend, listed with its own amount and %DV as on any other panel.1,4

So the panel tells you what is in the blend and which ingredient is largest, but not how much of each one a serving holds.1,2

Why companies use them

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 allows ingredients without Daily Values to be listed as proprietary blends so that companies can protect unique formulas, according to a 2023 paper by authors from NIH, FDA and an industry association. The weight of the blend and the names of its ingredients must be declared, but not the amount of each.2

What you can and cannot work out

The order tells you rank, not size. The first ingredient is the largest, and each later one weighs no more than the one before it. Beyond that the label gives no figure, so you cannot tell whether an ingredient is present at the amount used in a study.1,2

The same gap affects research. NIH's Dietary Supplement Label Database records what labels say, and its authors list the amounts of ingredients inside proprietary blends among the main challenges of working from label data.6

FDA suggests contacting the manufacturer when you want more detail than a label gives. The company's name and address are on every supplement label.7

Questions people ask

Are proprietary blends legal?

Yes. Federal law and FDA rules allow them, as long as the blend's total weight and its ingredients, in order of weight, are listed.1,3

Does a proprietary blend mean low amounts?

Not necessarily; the label simply does not say. A blend could hold an ingredient at the amount used in studies or at a trace, and the panel alone cannot tell you which.2

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Sources

  1. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Section 101.36: Nutrition labeling of dietary supplements. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (eCFR text). Opened 2026-10-07.
  2. Saldanha LG, Dwyer JT, Hardy CJ, MacKay DJ. Perspectives on the Use of Proprietary Blends in Dietary Supplements. J Nutr. 2023;153(5):1305-1308. Opened 2026-10-07.
  3. United States Code, Title 21, Section 343: Misbranded food (paragraphs r(6), s and w). Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Opened 2026-10-07.
  4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dietary Supplement Labeling Guide: Chapter IV. Nutrition Labeling. April 2005. Opened 2026-10-07.
  5. Harty PS, Zabriskie HA, Erickson JL, Molling PE, Kerksick CM, Jagim AR. Multi-ingredient pre-workout supplements, safety implications, and performance outcomes: a brief review. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018;15(1):41. Opened 2026-10-07.
  6. Saldanha LG, Dwyer JT, Bailen RA, et al. Characteristics and Challenges of Dietary Supplement Databases Derived from Label Information. J Nutr. 2018;148(suppl 2):1422S-1427S. Opened 2026-10-07.
  7. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Questions and Answers on Dietary Supplements. Content current as of August 27, 2026. Opened 2026-10-07.

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.