Choosing a multivitamin in the UK means comparing products that all look broadly similar from the front of the bottle. One says high strength, another says advanced formula, a third counts its ingredients on the cap. None of those phrases has a fixed legal meaning, and none of them helps you work out which product actually supplies more of the nutrient you were looking for.
The information that does help is all on the back, printed to a standard format that every food supplement sold in Britain has to follow. Once you know how to read four things — the daily serving, the %NRV column, the named forms and the other ingredients line — you can compare any two multivitamin labels in under a minute. This guide walks through each one, using our own Complete Daily Multivitamin panel as the worked example.
Why the front of the bottle tells you the least
Front-of-pack copy is written to be understood in about two seconds. Terms like high strength, complete, advanced and premium are marketing descriptions rather than defined categories, so two products carrying the same word can contain very different amounts. Counting nutrients has the same problem: a formula with twenty-nine rows and a formula with twelve rows are not ranked by that number alone, because a row can carry a meaningful amount or a token one and both look identical from the front.
The regulated part of the label is on the back. UK rules require a food supplement to declare the amount of each nutrient per the stated daily portion, to state the recommended daily portion, to warn against exceeding it, and to say that supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet. That block of small print is the part worth reading, because it is the part that has to be accurate.
Start with the daily serving, not the capsule
The single most common mistake in comparing supplements is reading a per-capsule figure as though it were a daily figure. A bottle can hold sixty capsules and still be a thirty-day supply, because the directions ask for two. Every number on a nutritional information panel refers to the serving stated at the top of that panel, so the first thing to find is the serving size.
Our Complete Daily Multivitamin states a one-capsule serving and sixty servings per bottle, so per capsule and per day are the same figure. Our Vitamin D3+K2 Advanced states a two-capsule serving and thirty servings per bottle, so every amount printed beside it is the total from both capsules together. Both bottles hold sixty capsules. One lasts twice as long as the other.
Converting to the daily serving also gives you the only price comparison that means anything. Divide the price by the number of servings rather than the number of capsules, and a bottle that looked expensive on the shelf sometimes turns out to be the cheaper of the two per day.
What %NRV actually means on a UK label
NRV stands for Nutrient Reference Value. It is a single reference figure set in law for labelling purposes, so that every product in the country measures itself against the same yardstick. When a panel says vitamin C 180 mg, 225%, it means that serving supplies 180 milligrams, which is 225 per cent of the labelling reference for vitamin C.
Two things follow from that, and both are widely misread. First, the NRV is a labelling reference for the general population, not a personal target calculated for your age, sex, diet or health. Second, it is not a score. A higher percentage is not automatically a better product, and it is certainly not proportional to how well something works.
Only vitamins and minerals have NRVs. Ingredients such as coenzyme Q10, alpha lipoic acid, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, choline and inositol have no established reference value, so a careful label shows a dash rather than leaving the column blank and hoping you assume the best. On our own panel, those seven ingredients all carry a dash, and the label states the amount instead.
Why named nutrient forms matter
Vitamins and minerals cannot be added to a supplement as abstract nutrients. They have to be supplied as specific compounds, and UK law sets out which compounds are permitted. Folate might appear as folic acid or as a folate salt; vitamin B12 might be cyanocobalamin or methylcobalamin; magnesium might be the oxide, the citrate or the glycinate.
A label that names the form in brackets is telling you exactly what you are buying. A label that says only folate, 200 µg is technically compliant but leaves you unable to compare it with anything. Our panel names every form: retinyl acetate for vitamin A, calcium-L-methylfolate for folate, methylcobalamin for B12, selenomethionine for selenium, zinc citrate for zinc.
What a named form does not do is prove the product works better. Bioavailability differences between forms are real, are studied, and vary by nutrient and by person. They are one input into a decision, alongside the amount, the rest of the formula and whether the product suits you at all. Treat a named form as evidence of transparency rather than as a promise.
High percentages, upper limits and when more stops helping
Percentages far above 100% are legal, common and not automatically a problem. Our own panel lists vitamin B12 at 4000% of the NRV and chromium at 500%. Water-soluble vitamins such as B12 and vitamin C are not stored in the body to the same extent as fat-soluble ones, which is part of why higher figures appear against them so often.
Fat-soluble nutrients deserve more attention. Vitamins A, D, E and K accumulate, and vitamin A in particular needs care in pregnancy. Several minerals — iron, zinc, selenium and iodine among them — have safe upper intake levels that are worth knowing if you take more than one product. The NHS publishes plain-English pages on each of these, and they are the right first stop.
The practical question is never whether one number on one label looks large. It is what your total intake of that nutrient is across everything you take, every day, including fortified foods. That is a question about your whole routine, not about a single bottle.
The other ingredients line
Underneath or beside the nutrient table sits a short line usually headed other ingredients. This is the part of a label most people skip and the part that tells you what physically carries the actives: the capsule shell, any flow agent that keeps the powder moving evenly through the filling machine, any bulking agent, and any carrier.
Across the whole RevaHealth range that line comes to four substances. Hypromellose is the plant-derived capsule shell, which is why every bottle carries a vegan mark rather than a gelatin declaration. Magnesium stearate is the flow agent, and it appears on all seven labels. Microcrystalline cellulose is a bulking agent used only in Advanced Calm + Sleep. Maltodextrin appears only in Triple Biotic Complex, where it carries the live cultures.
Colours, sweeteners and flavourings would have to be declared here too. If a label has no other ingredients line at all, that is worth a question rather than an assumption.
Adding up overlap across your whole routine
A multivitamin is rarely the only thing in the cupboard. It sits alongside a standalone vitamin D in winter, perhaps a magnesium at night, perhaps a greens powder, and increasingly alongside fortified cereals, plant milks and spreads that contribute meaningful amounts of the same nutrients.
The nutrients that most often stack up without anyone noticing are vitamin D, zinc, selenium, iodine, vitamin A and iron. Our multivitamin supplies 25 µg of vitamin D at 500% NRV; our Vitamin D3+K2 Advanced supplies 50 µg at 1000%. Taking both means 75 µg a day, which is a decision worth making deliberately rather than by accident.
The fix is unglamorous and takes five minutes. Write down every supplement you currently take, put the daily amounts of each shared nutrient in a column, and add them up. Take that list to a pharmacist if anything looks high, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, if you have a diagnosed condition, or if you take prescribed medicine.
A label check you can run in a shop
Once the principles are familiar, the whole assessment takes well under a minute. Turn the bottle over and work down this list.
- Is the serving size stated, and is it one capsule or more?
- Are the amounts given per daily serving rather than per capsule?
- Is there a %NRV column, with a dash where no reference value exists?
- Is the form of each nutrient named in brackets?
- Is there an other ingredients line, and does it look short and explicable?
- Are the directions, warnings and storage instructions printed, including the do-not-exceed statement?
- Is there a batch number, best-before date and a named business address in the UK?
A label that answers all seven is not necessarily the right product for you, but it is a product you can assess. A label that cannot answer them is one you are being asked to take on trust.
Frequently asked questions
What does NRV mean on a multivitamin label?
NRV stands for Nutrient Reference Value, a reference amount set in law for labelling so that every product is measured against the same figure. It applies to vitamins and minerals only. It is a general population reference for comparing labels, not a personal daily target and not a dose recommendation for any individual.
Is a higher %NRV better?
No. A higher percentage means the serving supplies more of that nutrient relative to the labelling reference, and nothing more. Whether more is useful depends on the nutrient, on what else you take and on you. Some nutrients have safe upper intake levels, and fat-soluble vitamins accumulate in a way that water-soluble ones largely do not.
Do I need a multivitamin if I already eat well?
UK guidance is that most people can get the nutrients they need from a varied and balanced diet, with vitamin D in autumn and winter as the widely advised exception. Food supplements are not a substitute for that diet. If you are considering one because of a specific concern, a symptom or a restricted diet, that is a conversation for a GP, pharmacist or registered dietitian rather than a label.
Can I take a multivitamin and a separate vitamin D supplement together?
Many people do, but the two amounts add together and both should be counted. Check the microgram figure on each label — 10 µg of vitamin D is the same as 400 IU — and total them. If the combined figure is well above what you expected, or you have been told you are deficient, have a calcium disorder or a kidney condition, ask a pharmacist before continuing.
Before choosing a supplement
- Read the complete current label, including the active and the other ingredients.
- Compare the daily serving rather than the number printed on the front of the bottle.
- Add up every source of the same nutrient across your whole routine.
- Ask a pharmacist or qualified healthcare professional about medicines, pregnancy, breastfeeding, surgery or an existing condition.
- Remember that food supplements do not replace a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Related guides on this formula
- Methylfolate, methylcobalamin and chelated minerals explained
- Building a simple supplement routine that you can keep
View the Complete Daily Multivitamin label, the full ingredient panel and current purchase options.
Also useful: RevaHealth Journal · full range · Ingredients · Contact.
References and further reading
- NHS: Vitamins and minerals
- UK legislation: The Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003
- NHS: The Eatwell Guide
This article is general educational information, not medical advice. Food supplements are not medicines and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. Always read the complete physical label before use, and speak to your GP or pharmacist if you are unsure whether a supplement is right for you.
