THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT
Three of these six have an authorised claim. Three do not.
In the EU, only a short list of health claims is authorised, and botanical claims sit on hold. Two of the three without a claim are botanicals. The third, NAC, is mostly treated as a medicine in the EU. We would rather show you that than write a sentence that sounds the same for all six.
Vitamin C
AUTHORISED CLAIM
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
“Vitamin C contributes to the normal function of the immune system.”
Regulation (EU) 432/2012, which only allows this claim on a product that is at least a source of vitamin C under Regulation (EC) 1924/2006. This formula carries 1,250% of the NRV. A narrower claim, “Vitamin C contributes to the normal function of the immune system during and after intense physical exercise”, holds at 200 mg a day on top of your usual intake. It is about exercise, not about a cold, so we do not lean on it here. EFSA has not set an upper limit for vitamin C. The references on file run from 250 mg a day (Germany's BfR, for supplements) through 1,000 mg (France's ANSES, diet included) to 2,000 mg (US). Our own working rule caps vitamin C at 1,000 mg a day across two formulas, and this one reaches that on its own.
Reg. 432/2012 · EFSA Journal 2009;7(9):1226 · 11 sources on file
Zinc
AUTHORISED CLAIM
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
“Zinc contributes to the normal function of the immune system.”
Regulation (EU) 432/2012, on a product that is at least a source of zinc under Regulation (EC) 1924/2006. This formula carries 15 mg, 150% of the NRV and 60% of the EFSA upper limit of 25 mg a day, so the engine keeps a running total of your zinc across formulas. The cold studies on file used zinc lozenges at around 75 mg in the first 24 hours. This is 15 mg in a liquid, and we do not borrow their result. One more rule sits behind it: taken for long stretches, zinc at 15 mg or more a day needs about 1 mg of copper alongside it, and the engine watches your zinc-to-copper ratio. A course of seven days is not that, but the check is there if zinc stays in your plan for longer.
Reg. 432/2012 · NRV 10 mg · 14 sources on file
Vitamin D3
AUTHORISED CLAIM
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
“Vitamin D contributes to the normal function of the immune system.”
Regulation (EU) 432/2012, on a product that is at least a source of vitamin D. The NRV for vitamin D is only 5 µg, so 25 µg reads as 500%. That is a quarter of the EFSA upper limit of 100 µg a day. One thing we pass on as it is: the vitamin D level in your blood takes four to eight weeks to settle after you start, and a course of seven days does not get it there. The claim is about the normal function of your immune system, not about this cold.
Reg. 432/2012 · EFSA Journal 2010;8(2):1468 · 12 sources on file
Elderberry
ON HOLD IN THE EU REGISTER
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
Nothing yet. Botanical claims have been on hold in the EU since 2010, pending review.
It is here because the work on file, a 2019 meta-analysis of four trials, reports shorter cold symptoms with elderberry extract. The dose recorded as effective on file is 1,500 mg a day, from a legacy note that gives a range of 600 to 1,500 mg. This formula carries 600 mg, the bottom of that range and below the recorded figure, and we say so. It is a processed extract: raw elderberries are toxic. That is a reason to include it, not a permission to promise anything.
1 source on file · 1 with a PMID · claim on hold
NAC
NO AUTHORISED CLAIM
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
Nothing. No claim has been submitted for NAC in the EU, so we do not attribute an effect to it.
In the EU, NAC is mostly treated as a medicine: a mucolytic that makes mucus less thick, usually taken at 600 mg a day. As a food ingredient it sits in a grey zone, restricted in several member states and limited to 200 mg as a supplement in Spain, which is the dose here. That is a third of the medicine dose, so we do not tell you it will clear your chest. The only EFSA opinion on file, from 2004, is about its safety, not about an effect.
EFSA Journal 2004;21 · 1 relevant source on file · not a claim
Pelargonium
ON HOLD IN THE EU REGISTER
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
Nothing yet. Botanical claims have been on hold in the EU since 2010, pending review.
The EMA monograph recognises Pelargonium root for the symptomatic treatment of the common cold on traditional use only, at 60 mg of dry extract a day, which is the dose here. The monograph splits that into three doses a day; your device splits it into two. It also says two things we pass on as they are: if symptoms last longer than a week, see a doctor, and cases of liver injury have been reported, so it stops at the first sign of one.
EMA/HMPC/648100/2022 · 1 source on file · claim on hold
