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Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
The berry of the black elder, used only as a processed, standardised extract, because the raw berries are toxic. It has no authorised EU claim, and it sits in our two cold formulas at 600 mg, which is the bottom of the range in our own file.
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
Nothing yet. The claim is on hold.
Regulation (EU) 432/2012 lists no authorised health claim for elderberry. Our file notes that most botanical claims have been on the European Commission's on-hold list since 2010, still waiting for assessment by EFSA. Until that changes there is nothing on the register for us to quote, and we are not going to write something that sounds like one.Regulation (EU) 432/2012 lists no authorised health claim for elderberry. Like most botanicals, it is on hold, so there is nothing for us to quote here.
The meta-analysis on file, four randomised trials with 180 participants, reported that elderberry substantially reduced upper respiratory symptoms. That is a reason to include it, not a permission to promise anything. In our cold formulas, the immune system claims come from the vitamin C, zinc and vitamin D3 next to it, not from the elderberry.
WHY A PROCESSED EXTRACT
The berry, but never raw.
Elderberry is a plant, so the choice is not between salts but about how the berry is prepared. We specify a standardised dry extract at 10:1, the form our EU regulatory record names. Our file puts its activity down to anthocyanins and other polyphenols, with immune-modulating and antiviral activity reported against influenza A and B and rhinoviruses. That is research, not a claim. The extract dissolves in water and tastes neutral, which suits a liquid, but our file also marks it as not stable in a liquid, and we would rather tell you that than leave it out.
Raw elderberries contain cyanogenic glycosides and are toxic. The warning on our label is plain: processed extract only, never the raw berries.
A standardised dry extract of the berry. It dissolves in water and tastes neutral. Our file marks it as not stable in a liquid, which is a point we have not closed yet.
In our cold formula it took the place of ivy leaf. In the EU, ivy is a herbal medicine; elderberry is accepted as a food supplement ingredient, which is what we make.
There is no authorised claim for any elderberry extract, standardised or not, so the 10:1 figure is not a claim argument and we do not use it as one. Our file sets the minimum effective amount at 1,500 mg a day, from an older range of 600 to 1,500 mg. Both our formulas carry 600 mg, the bottom of that range, and that question is still waiting for independent clinical review.There is no authorised claim for any elderberry extract, so the 10:1 figure is not a claim argument. Our file sets the minimum effective amount at 1,500 mg a day; our formulas carry 600 mg, and that is still waiting for clinical review.
WHERE IT APPEARS
Two of the twenty-nine carry elderberry.
Both are short BOOST courses, started when a cold begins, and both carry the same 600 mg. Neither is meant for everyday use, and neither has completed clinical validation.
THE CEILING
No upper limit set. Short courses instead.
EFSA has not set a tolerable upper intake level for elderberry, and the EMA monographs on plants give documented daily doses, not limits of that kind. No limit is not the same as no risk. What keeps it in check is the length of the courses: both formulas carrying it are short BOOSTs, not everyday formulas.EFSA has not set an upper intake level for elderberry. No limit is not the same as no risk, which is why both formulas carrying it are short courses.
Acute immunity stops at 10 days, the limit set by the echinacea in it. Cold symptom support stops at 7, the limit set by the Pelargonium. Cold symptom support also has a stop rule of its own: stop at once if there are signs of liver trouble, because the Pelargonium in it has reported cases. If your symptoms last longer, the next step is a doctor, not another round.
Our Acute immunity file notes that the EMA monograph on elderberry fruit gives at most 7 days of traditional use for a cold, which is shorter than that formula's 10. Our Cold symptom support file says elderberry has no absolute time limit at this dose. We have not settled that yet, and it is with a clinician.
Avoid it if you have an autoimmune condition or are immunosuppressed, unless a doctor supervises it; neither formula carrying it is offered to you in either case, nor if you take vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants. Acute immunity is also ruled out if you have severe atopy, which is the echinacea in it, not the elderberry. In pregnancy, caution, because there is not enough data, and Cold symptom support rules pregnancy out. Never eat the raw berries: they are toxic. Our file also records it as a histamine liberator, though not high in histamine itself, which matters if you have histamine intolerance, and names the plant itself in its allergen record.
WHAT IT REACTS WITH
No documented pairs yet. A few flags.
Elderberry is one of the 140 ingredients in our library, so it has 139 possible partners. None of its pairs has been entered in our interaction table yet, and none of its medication interactions is in our drug table. Its own file flags nothing either. The flags below come from the files of other ingredients, and one of them concerns a formula we already make.
Our echinacea file rates elderberry as a moderate overlap on the same immune target in its interaction table. In its safety notes, the same file classes immune duplication as a critical risk: it says to limit a serving to one major immune stimulant and not to combine echinacea with elderberry in the same serving. It also lists the pair as a synergy for respiratory infections, on trial evidence. Acute immunity carries both in the same serving, 2,400 mg of echinacea next to 600 mg of elderberry, and that is waiting for clinical review.
Both files rate elderberry as a moderate overlap on the same immune target, and the astragalus file says to limit a plan to a single immune stimulant. Neither sits in a formula with elderberry today.
Nothing on file. Our pharmacokinetic record has no effect on liver enzymes, no half-life, no elimination route and no oral bioavailability documented for elderberry, and those checks are still pending. That is a gap, not a clean result.
443 of the 9,730 possible pairs in our library are documented, which is 4.55%, and none of them involves elderberry. The rest are not "safe", they are simply unchecked, and we would rather write that down than let the number look like a badge.443 of the 9,730 possible pairs in our library are documented, which is 4.55%, and none involves elderberry. The rest are not safe, they are simply unchecked.
SOURCES
Everything on this page, with its reference.
Reviewed by VION nutrition team · last reviewed 16 September 2026Read the introduction to Elderberry →
140 INGREDIENTS · 64 IN USE TODAY
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