Last updated on July 14th, 2022 at 11:16 am
I get a lot of questions about vitamins. Which kid’s vitamins are safe? That sparked my digging and researching desire so I started to take a closer look. I have avoided this topic in the past for a couple of different reasons.
One is my own personal philosophy on nutrition and the need or lack thereof a need for vitamin supplementation. If you eat well, you don’t need vitamins, in my humble opinion. But I also know that sometimes eating well-rounded isn’t possible and we need to fill in the gaps when we can.
The other reason is that these are supplements. Supplements come with so many questions about safety and whether they are properly tested for things like lead. Stories of lead being in vitamins surfaced a few years ago and I was torn in two directions. Trust the big name brand companies because of their ability to mandate rigorous testing, or stick with the organic and natural brands even though some didn’t make it through the testing phase with flying colors?
So take this list with the notion that I don’t believe there are perfect vitamins that are the safest and the best. Having said that, these brands are free of some major things that we can avoid if we chose to give our kids multi-vitamins. I have also carefully selected brands that exhibit consideration of the ingredients they use from safe sources and responsibility to the environment.
All Kids Multivitamin Brands Must Be Free Of
- Lead (Note some companies only claim to clear the California Prop 65 limit.)
- Synthetic food coloring and flavoring
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Chemical preservatives and fillers
- Responsibly sourced ingredients, especially with regard to DHA extraction
Brands Passing SafeMama Inspection
- SmartyPants Vitamins for kids and adults – This brand caught my attention when I read “we value transparency”. I also like the idea of a multi-vitamin that actually covers everything in one dose. So Omega-3, Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 along with the rest of your standard vitamins and nutrients in a multi. So you buy one container and that’s all you need. Not 4 other ones to fill in the gaps. They source their Omega3s from eco-friendly small fish sources. All their vitamins are third-party tested for lead and heavy metals. Free of GMOs, gluten, yeast, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, fish allergens, shellfish, salicylates, synthetic colors, artificial flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives. They have women’s, men’s, kids, and prenatal vitamins to choose from. I like these.
- Hero Naturals Yummi Bears – These also come in Yummi Bears organic version and all their gummies are free of gluten, allergens, and dairy. The organic version is also GMO-Free and uses vegetable-based pectin instead of gelatin for those who may be vegetarian. They also offer some other options including sugar-free.
- Nordic Naturals – Backed by Healthy Child Healthy World, Nordic Naturals uses the right ingredients and responsibly.
- Garden Of Life
- RaiseThemWell Prenatal Vitamins – I have personally tested these on myself and felt great. Nothing kooky going on in these.
- Rainbow Light Prenatal Vitamins and Women’s Multi
Have a brand that you think passes the test? Email me and let me know!