PlainVitamins

Activated Charcoal

by Nature's Sunshine · capsule · 120 capsules

  • On the market (NIH)
  • UPC 0 99904 00366 8
  • DSLD label 277970
  • Serving 4 to 8 capsules; amounts per 8 capsules
  • 15 servings

Activated Charcoal by Nature's Sunshine lists one ingredient: 2,080 mg of activated charcoal per serving of 8 capsules. Its current label entered the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database on October 24, 2022.

What is in Activated Charcoal?

Each row as the label prints it, per serving of 8 capsules. The capsule beside an amount places it among every product in the NIH database that lists the same ingredient: the bar is the middle half of their amounts, the line in it the median, the whiskers the 10th and 90th percentiles; the green tick is the FDA Daily Value and the red dashed tick the adult upper limit (IOM).

Activated Charcoal: Supplement Facts rows against the market (DSLD label 277970, January 2026 release)
IngredientAmount% DVAmong products listing it
Activated Charcoal2,080 mgActivated Charcoal in Activated Charcoal against 103 products2,080 mg per serving; the middle half of products list 300 mg to 570 mg, the median 520 mg.2,080 mg

Higher than 97% of 103 products listing activated charcoal (median 520 mg).

Source: NIH ODS Dietary Supplement Label Database, label 277970 (entered October 24, 2022), version 9.4.0. See the label on DSLD or its label image (PDF). Amounts are what the maker printed; DSLD does not test products. Daily Values: the FDA's Daily Value page.

Is that a lot?

The rows in the top or bottom tenth of the products that list the same ingredient, and any above the adult upper limit at the most servings a day the directions give:

  • Its 2,080 mg of activated charcoal is higher than 97% of the 103 activated charcoal products that print an amount; 2 list more.

The NIH database records one serving a day from the label's directions; its % Daily Values are for adults and children 4 or more years of age. The directions as printed are further down this page.

The Tolerable Upper Intake Level is the most of a nutrient per day, from food, water and supplements together, that is likely to pose no risk for almost all adults (Institute of Medicine, 2011). It does not apply under medical supervision. This page compares labels; it is not medical advice.

Sources: amounts from the DSLD label; Daily Values from 21 CFR 101.9(c)(8)(iv); adult upper limits from the Institute of Medicine's DRI summary tables (2011). How positions are computed.

Which products have the closest formulas?

6 products list the very same ingredients; the nearest amounts come first.

Source: ingredient lists of every product's current label in DSLD (version 9.4.0); similarity weights each shared ingredient by how rare it is.

What does the label say about taking it?

Quoted from the label as DSLD transcribed it: the maker's words, including any claim about what the product does, which the FDA has not evaluated and PlainVitamins does not endorse.

Directions
Recommended Use: Take 4 to 8 capsules as needed.
Warnings
Do not use if inner seal is missing or damaged.

Source: label statements in DSLD label 277970.

What else is on the label?

Other ingredients: Gelatin, Water.

Seals and symbols as the label prints them (the maker's; a certifier's own list confirms a seal): Ko Pareve (Kosher).

How many labels does Activated Charcoal have?

2 labels are on file under this name since November 21, 2019: other sizes, label designs and reformulations. The current one leads this page.

  1. Label 277970 (current) Entered October 24, 2022 · on the market · 120 capsules · UPC 0 99904 00366 8
  2. Label 209974 Entered November 21, 2019 · off the market January 21, 2022 · 120 capsules · UPC 0 99904 00366 8

Source: DSLD label entry and market events, version 9.4.0 (labels entered through September 25, 2025).

Who makes it?

The label names Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. (manufacturer), Spanish Fork, UT. All Nature's Sunshine products.

Where next?