What happened
The German consumer magazine Öko-Test tested 21 combination products with zinc and vitamin C in its November issue, published on 29 October 2026. Sixteen failed and none scored better than “satisfactory”. The main reason: daily doses above the values Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) recommends for supplements, 6.5 mg of zinc and 250 mg of vitamin C. Öko-Test also criticised missing zinc warnings, claim wording that goes beyond the authorised claims, and additives such as talc and titanium dioxide.
We checked 18 of these combinations sold in Germany ourselves, label by label:
- 11 of 18 contain more than 6.5 mg of zinc per daily dose, including all 7 online brands, at 10 to 20 mg;
- 16 of 18 contain more than 250 mg of vitamin C, 8 of them 1,000 mg;
- only two lozenges stay within both BfR values.
The full analysis is in German: Zink + Vitamin C: 18 Etiketten im Check.
What it means for you
- The limits differ by country. The BfR figures are advice, not law. In the UK the NHS advises not taking more than 25 mg of zinc a day from supplements and says less than 1,000 mg of vitamin C a day is unlikely to cause harm, so most of these products would be within UK advice.
- High zinc for long periods is not harmless: it can reduce copper absorption. If you already take a multivitamin with zinc, add the amounts up.
- Extra vitamin C does not stop colds in the general population; zinc started early may shorten a cold by about two days, but that evidence is of low certainty. Our colds guide has the details.
Sources
Information only, not medical advice. No brand or shop paid for this item.