A new report from ConsumerLab.com, White Plains, NY, reviewed the evidence behind each of the popular cholesterol-lowering ingredients and provided test results for 12 supplement brands. Testing included supplements containing plant sterols or policosanol and showed that most contained the listed amount of ingredient, also meeting other quality standards. However, one product failed to break apart in the disintegration test, suggesting that its sterols would not be properly released and used by the body.

In another ConsumerLab.com test, few brands of St. John’s Wort met quality standards. Among the 10 supplements selected for testing, only four met ConsumerLab.com’s quality standards. St. John’s Wort is known to accumulate heavy metals from the soil. Four supplements failed testing due to contamination with cadmium, a heavy metal that is a carcinogen and a kidney toxin. One of these products was also contaminated with an amount of lead that, although small, would necessitate a warning label in the State of California.