Jun 12, 2025

8 Ingredients to AVOID in Your Supplements

by Mark Robertson

At Ethical Nutrition we’re obsessed with using pure, effective, plant-based ingredients. We believe in making science-backed supplements that contain only the most essential and natural allergen-free ingredients. There are certain substances we will never use in our products - even though many other brands do. Curious about what they are? Let’s explore the 8 ingredients we won’t use and find out why.

What makes a good supplement?

A supplement is a concentrated source of nutrients. To be effective, it needs to be potent and easy to absorb. It also needs to be manufactured in a responsible and ethical way, free from potentially harmful ingredients.

Our founding principles mean we won’t use ingredients that are:

Synthetic or unnecessarily processed.
Derived from animals or tested on animals.
Harmful to the biodiversity and sustainability of our natural world.
Not proven to be safe for human health in the long-term.

In alignment with these principles we won’t use any of the following ingredients:

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Many fillers, bulking agents, and additives like corn starch, maltodextrin, soy lecithin, and xanthan gum can be extracted from genetically modified or genetically engineered plants. GMOs are relatively new and more research is needed to understand their long-term effects on human health [1].

However, the impact on the environment is already evident. Herbicides and insecticides used in the production of GM crops are affecting habitat biodiversity, water pollution, and the development of herbicide-resistant weeds and pest-resistant insecticides [2].

Magnesium Stearate
Primarily used as a flow agent, magnesium stearate can also function as an emulsifier, binder, thickener, anticaking, and antifoaming agent [3].

As a flow agent it’s added to supplement formulations to stop other ingredients from sticking to the machinery during the manufacturing process.

Magnesium stearate is considered to be safe in tiny amounts but the health effects of cumulative exposure via multiple sources (e.g. foods, supplements, baking ingredients, confectionary) remain unclear [3].

This is especially concerning for young children and people with chronic renal impairment who may be more sensitive to an accumulation of magnesium. So, because the safety data isn’t there, we don’t use magnesium stearate at all.

Gelatin capsules
A lot of supplement brands use animal-derived gelatine to make their capsules. We have a strict policy against animal testing or using any animal-based ingredients. You can be assured that we only use vegan capsule shells made from vegetable cellulose - never gelatine. Why should an animal have to suffer for the sake of a supplement?

Palm oil derivatives
The catastrophic impact of palm oil production on rainforests and other biodiverse habitats means people are turning away from palm oil as an ingredient. But the 500+ palm oil derivatives are harder to spot and avoid.

With names like acetylated monoglycerides and aluminium stearate it’s impossible to know whether you are buying something made from a palm oil derivative or not [4]. We make it easy for you to care for our planet by never including palm oil derivatives in our products.

Bulking Agents
Bulking agents do exactly what their name suggests: they bulk out the other ingredients to fill up a capsule shell or to make the shape of a tablet. They provide no health benefits at all and we don’t use them.

Titanium Dioxide
Titanium dioxide, aka E171, is used as a coating agent and to protect ingredients against UV light.

In 2021, the European Food Standards Agency Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings decided titanium dioxide is no longer safe as a food additive due to concerns about genotoxicity and the potential to cause DNA damage [5].

As with magnesium stearate, these concerns are based upon the unknown accumulative effects of titanium dioxide. Although the amount being ingested in each dose of a supplement is low, there is no safe daily intake level because scientists don’t know what the long-term effects are when multiple low doses add up. We prefer to avoid this problem and don’t include titanium dioxide in any of our products.

Sugar and artificial sweeteners
Sugar and artificial sweeteners might be the last thing you’d expect to find in a health supplement. But some brands sneak them in to make chewable supplements more palatable or as a coating on tablets. Rest assured there’s zero sugar and artificial sweeteners in our supplements.

Synthetic Additives
These include colourings and flavour enhancers. We don’t need to disguise any unpleasant tastes or mask the colour of our products so you won’t find them anywhere in our range.

So what do we put in our supplements?

We use the most natural, effective, and vegan forms of ingredients available. Yes, this makes our supplements a little more expensive compared to those sold in high street chains, but a little more expense gives you a significantly more effective product.

A good example of this is calcium. Most brands use the cheaper forms of calcium carbonate or calcium phosphate, both of which are poorly absorbed and known to upset the gut.

We only use calcium citrate which is better tolerated and has a much higher absorption rate.

Manufacturing standards

All our ingredients are traceable through our supply chain and are subject to a stringent supplier approval programme. Ingredients are only approved after a number of third-party quality, specification, and sample checks have been completed.

Every single raw material that enters the building is only allowed into production if heavy metal and microbiological testing results have been received and verified. Our processes are independently checked and meet the highest British Retail Consortium Grade AA standards, ensuring exceptional quality control at every stage.

And, throughout all our production processes we adhere to the UK Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards so you can shop with confidence, safe in the knowledge that you’re getting safe, effective, high quality food supplements.

We hope this explains exactly what goes into our products and more importantly, what doesn’t! You can find out more about our ingredients and what sets us apart from other supplement brands over on our Ingredients page.

DON'T HAVE TIME TO GET ALL YOUR NUTRIENTS FROM FOOD?

What makes a good supplement?

In alignment with these principles we won’t use any of the following ingredients:

So what do we put in our supplements?

Manufacturing standards