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Consumer Education & Science · 6 min read

Proprietary Blends Explained: Why Manufacturers Hide Milligrams

Published: October 16, 2026 · Author: Nervecept Clinical Reference Team · Peer-Reviewed

The proprietary blend was originally created to protect intellectual property from competitors. Over the past two decades, however, it has evolved into a convenient loophole for supplement brands to underdose expensive ingredients.

Key Takeaways & Clinical Summary

  • FDA regulations allow brands to list proprietary blends under a total weight without disclosing individual ingredient amounts.
  • Ingredients within a blend must be listed in descending order by weight, but exact ratios remain hidden.
  • This enables brands to advertise expensive botanicals while including only sub-clinical trace amounts.
  • Transparent brands openly display exact milligram weights for their active compounds.

Table of Contents

The Legal Origin of the Proprietary Blend

Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, manufacturers are permitted to group ingredients into proprietary complexes to safeguard proprietary formulas from direct copycat manufacturing.

How the Loophole is Exploited Today

In practice, an unscrupulous company can create a 500 mg blend containing 490 mg of cheap maltodextrin or rice flour, and 1 mg each of 10 expensive standardized botanicals. On the marketing page, all 10 botanicals are prominently highlighted.

Why Transparent Dosing Protects Consumers

When milligram amounts are published, healthcare practitioners can cross-reference the dosages against published human clinical studies to confirm whether the supplement delivers functional biological activity.

Official Reference Resources

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