88% Of Melatonin Gummy Products Inaccurately Labeled, Some Included CBD

Are you in the dark about what’s actually in that melatonin product that you may have been taking? A study described in a JAMA research letter published on April 25 found that 22 of 25 melatonin gummy products analyzed had labels that did not accurately represent the contents of the products. That’s a whopping 88% if them. In fact, the actual levels of melatonin in the products ranged from 74% to 347% of what was listed on the labels. And while five of the products did list cannabidiol (CBD) on their labels—yes, that CBD—the actual levels of CBD ranged from 104% to 118% of what was indicated on the label. So, that gummy in your tummy may have a lot more or a lot less of what you are thinking that you are getting. That’s not the kind of news that will make you sleep better at night.

Data have shown that an increasing number of Americans have been using melatonin products to sleep or relieve stress or both. As I covered for Forbes in February 2022, a study found that melatonin supplement use had increased over four-fold among Americans from 2000 to 2018. Such dietary supplements aren’t very closely regulated. They are typically sold over-the-counter and don’t go through the same U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process that’s required of medications. That means that the labels on melatonin products could be a bit more like the trailer for the 2003 movie Kangaroo Jack—which, by the way, ended up not having a freaking talking kangaroo as the trailer suggested—and less like a reliable inventory of the actual ingredients.

That’s probably why a team from the Cambridge Health Alliance (Pieter A. Cohen, MD) and the University of Mississippi (Bharathi Avula, PhD, Yan-Hong Wang, PhD, Kumar Katragunta, PhD, and Ikhlas Khan, PhD) embarked on the study. In September 2022, they used the National Institutes of Health’s Dietary Supplement Label Database to identify 30 gummy products with “melatonin” on the label. Of these, they determined four to be unavailable for purchase and one to not have “melatonin” on the actual label, leaving 25 products for them to analyze.

They didn’t even find any melatonin in one of the products but did find 31.3 mg of CBD, which ain’t melatonin. You should never say, “Give me melatonin or give me CBD. It doesn’t make a difference.” The amount of melatonin in the remaining products ranged quite widely from 1.3 mg to 13.1 mg per serving size. In fact, only three (12%) of the products had levels of melatonin that were within 10% of what the label had said.

Of course, this study had its limitations. It wasn’t a super large study. Twenty-five is not a large number unless you are talking about the number of ferrets in your pants. The study also focused on gummies so it’s not yet clear if the same issues are present to other types of melatonin products such as tablets and capsules. Nevertheless, this study does offer an important warning. While you may be wondering what’s in your wallet, it’s also important to wonder what’s in your melatonin product.

Melatonin products aren’t the same as rutabagas in the produce aisle. Some makers of melatonin supplements have asserted that melatonin is “natural” so that you don’t have to worry about its safety. It’s true that your body does normally produce melatonin, largely from your very small and pea-shaped pineal gland. That’s pea-shaped and not pee-shaped. Your pineal gland secretes different levels of melatonin throughout the day to help regulate your sleep-wake cycle.

The following diagram shows where your pineal gland is location:

Just because something naturally occurs in your body doesn’t mean you can take it with abandon, though. Poop is natural too. So is pee. Yet, you probably wouldn’t want either on your pizza. Plus, melatonin isn’t like avocado toast. More is not necessarily always better. The levels of melatonin matter. As I covered for Forbes in June 2022, another study revealed that reports of melatonin poisoning among kids jumped up 530% from 2012 to 2021.

Speaking of kids, while there is some evidence that melatonin is reasonably safe for adults when used in proper quantities for a relatively short period of time, there is not enough evidence as to whether melatonin can be used safely in kids for any amount of time. This implies two things. One, don’t give your kids melatonin products to help them relax or sleep, unless a real medical doctor has told you to do so. Two, don’t leaving melatonin products unsecured around the apartment, condo, house, castle, Batcave, space station, or wherever you happen to live. Kids have a habit of putting stuff into their mouths, especially if they are gummified. They may be getting more melatonin that they can handle. The kids could even be getting some CBD.

Being in the dark about what’s actually in melatonin products can be a dark, dark problem. Consuming too much melatonin isn’t like consuming too many rutabagas. Overdosing can lead to daytime drowsiness and grogginess and during the night, vivid dreams, or even nightmares. It may be time to shed more light on what’s actually going into melatonin products and other dietary supplements.