Melatonin gummies were lab-tested — the labels don't hold
- Claim
- SLEEP GUMMY LAB TESTED
- Catch
- NO LABEL CHECKS
- Verdict
- THE CATCH SCIENCE
Melatonin gummies are the most popular sleep supplement format in the US — and unlike drugs, supplements don't need FDA approval or label verification before sale. A team led by Dr. Pieter Cohen (Cambridge Health Alliance / Harvard) bought 25 melatonin-gummy brands and had them analyzed (Cohen PA, Avula B, Wang Y, Katragunta K, Khan I. "Quantity of Melatonin and CBD in Melatonin Gummies Sold in the US," JAMA 2023;329(16):1401-1402; DOI 10.1001/jama.2023.2296). Results: 22 of 25 products (88%) were inaccurately labeled — only 3 fell within ±10% of the declared melatonin. Actual melatonin content ranged from 74% to 347% of the labeled quantity (1.3 to 13.1 mg per serving). One product labeled as melatonin contained no melatonin at all, only 31.3 mg of CBD; five products contained CBD at 104%–118% of the labeled amount. Context: as gummies spread, US poison-center reports of pediatric melatonin ingestions rose about 530% between 2012 and 2021, with thousands of hospitalizations. The catch: no regulator checks the label before sale, and a product that looks like candy can carry many times its label — talk to your pediatrician before giving melatonin to a child, and treat supplement labels as unverified.
SOURCES
- Cohen PA, Avula B, Wang Y, Katragunta K, Khan I. "Quantity of Melatonin and CBD in Melatonin Gummies Sold in the US," JAMA 2023;329(16):1401-1402. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2023.2296
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements — Melatonin fact sheet (supplements are not FDA-approved drugs)
- America's Poison Centers / CDC data on rising pediatric melatonin exposures, 2012–2021
For information only, not medical advice. If a child has ingested melatonin unexpectedly, call Poison Control. Talk to a pediatrician about sleep problems first.
