Best Zinc Supplements and Lozenges for Colds, According to ConsumerLab

White Plains, NY, December 20, 2024 —  Zinc is important for a healthy immune system and the right zinc lozenge can help reduce cold symptoms, but taking too much zinc causes adverse effects. To identify the best zinc products, ConsumerLab recently purchased and tested 15 popular zinc supplements, lozenges, and melts, carefully checking to see if they contained what they claimed, and whether they were contaminated with toxic metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. Tablets and caplets were tested to ensure they properly disintegrated to release their ingredients.
 

Key Findings:

• Some Products Contain Far More Zinc Than Claimed or Fail to Disclose How Much Zinc They Contain: Most supplements and lozenges were found to contain their listed amounts of zinc within an acceptable margin of error. However, one product contained 45% more zinc than listed on its label. ConsumerLab also revealed the amount of zinc in the cold remedy Zicam, which is not disclosed on the label.
• Caution With High Doses of Zinc: There was a wide range in the dose of zinc provided by products, from 11 to almost 60 mg per suggested serving. Some products intentionally provide amounts of zinc above the adult daily Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of 40 mg. This may be acceptable if taken short-term to treat zinc deficiency or as a lozenge to treat a cold, but such high doses can impair the immune system and cause other adverse effects if taken long term.
• Cost Does Not Indicate Quality: The cost to obtain 30 mg of zinc from products ranged from just 2 cents to $1.17, but testing showed that price was not an indicator of quality.

Among products that passed all tests and were Approved for their quality, ConsumerLab selected Top Picks for zinc pills and for lozenges for colds.
 

Access the Full Report:

ConsumerLab's full Zinc Supplements, Lozenges, and Melts Review can now be accessed online by ConsumerLab.com members – who now number over 100,000.

The Review includes test results and comparisons for 12 zinc supplements, including lozenges and melts, selected for testing by ConsumerLab: Cold-Eeze Cold Remedy, Dr. Mercola Zinc Plus Selenium, Jarrow Formulas Zinc Balance, Nature's Bounty Zinc 50 mg, Nature's Way Zinc Lozenges, NOW L-OptiZinc 30 mg, Pure Encapsulations Zinc 30, Solgar Zinc Picolinate 22 mg, Swanson Zinc Picolinate, Thorne Zinc Picolinate 30 mg, Vitacost Chelated Zinc, and Zicam Cold Remedy -Citrus Flavor. Three additional products passed the same testing and were Approved through CL's voluntary Quality Certification Program: Garden Of Life Vitamin Code Raw Zinc, GNC Zinc 50 mg, and Life Extension Zinc Caps 50 mg.

The Review explains the pros and cons of different forms of zinc, including zinc acetate, citrate, gluconate, gluconate, sulfate, picolinate, bis-glycinate, zinc aspartate, and others. The Review also discusses the best way to take zinc to fight colds, the risks of getting too much zinc from supplements, and potential side effects and drug interactions with zinc supplements, as well as how to get zinc from foods. It also examines the clinical evidence for zinc supplements and lozenges for reducing cold symptoms, slowing age-related macular degeneration, lowering blood sugar, and other proposed uses.

Founded in 1999, ConsumerLab.com is a leading provider of consumer information and independent evaluations of products that affect health and nutrition. Membership to ConsumerLab.com is available online and provides immediate access to continually updated reviews of nearly every popular type of dietary supplement and health food, answers to reader questions, and product recalls and warnings. ConsumerLab also provides independent product testing through its voluntary Quality Certification Program. The company is privately held and based in New York. It has no ownership from, or interest in, companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell consumer products.