Think of all the products you buy, from clothes to home goods to food and supplements. You’re probably loyal to a few brands. You might buy from them all the time; you might even spend hundreds or thousands of dollars with them every year. But, how much do you really know about them? What practices are you supporting with your purchases?
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit one of my favorite supplement companies, MegaFood. I was lucky enough to get an inside scoop on their process and practices. By the end of the trip, I found myself singing their praises to anyone who would listen.
A Head Start
Before my trip, I knew that MegaFood was proud of their transparent practices. Their Big T Transparency initiative highlights some of these open and honest practices. In addition to releasing the results of third party testing and audits, they allow customers to live stream their facilities all day, every day! You can check out their manufacturing process any time you want, from the comfort of your own home—no access badge required!
Additionally, MegaFood is known for forging farm-fresh partnerships with organic farmers and growers across the country. From Hawaii to Florida, these organic farms provide MegaFood with fresh, organic produce—the source of MegaFood’s whole-food-based supplements. That’s just another way MegaFood ensures their supplements are top quality.
10 Things I Learned at MegaFood
1. They do in-house testing.
Our tour began in their 4 Delta facility, located on Delta Road in the small town of Londonderry, New Hampshire. In their laboratory, we saw the high-tech equipment used for testing. The lab is certified to international standards for methodology, safety and quality. It’s actually uncommon for supplement companies like MegaFood to do so much testing—but they are sticklers for safety and quality.
2. They do a lot of in-house testing.
They test for nutrient levels at multiple stages in the manufacturing process, including when the raw materials first come into the lab and the final products. There’s no concern that the levels in each tablet won’t match the label claims because they’ve tested it again and again and again…
3. They take safety very seriously.
To step into the lab, we each had to wear a lab coat. Then for our facility tour, we had to wear additional protective gear, including lab coats and hair nets. The guys had to wear beard nets, too! Not only does this keep employees and visitors safe, it also protects the whole foods and nutrients from accidental contamination. The facility was set up to ensure the safety of all of their employees
4. MegaFood has unique processes.
After the initial testing, raw materials like fruits and vegetables are cold milled. Then, to transform the nutrients into the fine powder that’s needed for tablets, capsules and powders, the nutrients go through a really cool, unique drying process. The nutrients travel slowly on a large conveyor belt while the liquid from the fresh food evaporates, making the area really steamy.
5. They don’t cut corners.
The drying process is done really slowly and can take up to several hours. But this is done deliberately to create nutrients that are safe to consume. And, to ensure they don’t destroy the nutrients, no direct heat is applied at all in the process. They dry without heat—isn’t that neat? What comes out of the dryers is a thin and paper-like material that flakes easily in your fingers. You can touch the material when it comes out; it isn’t hot at all—proof of their no-heat method. (See my team on their live cams touching the dried product! While we were there, they were drying selenium.)
6. If they can go slower, they go slower.
The materials then get transferred to the 11 Delta facility where they are pressed into tablets and bottled. The tablet press they use is specially-made. Our tour guide shared with us an interesting story about the tablet press. She said that MegaFood had to ask the manufacturer to keep making it work more slowly. Speed is not as important as the quality of the nutrients they are providing.
7. No heat here either!
One advantage of having the tablet press work so slowly is that, once again, no heat is involved in the process. The tablet exits the machine at room temperature. Just like in the slow drying process, MegaFood goes to great lengths to ensure the integrity and quality of their products.
8. Bottles and bottling get the same care.
Don’t think that the process stops there. The utmost caution and care also go into the bottling process. Before they’re used, the glass bottles are blown out to make sure no dust or debris are left over from the bottle-making process.
9. Supplements remain free of foreign chemicals.
You know those balls of cotton you find at the top of many other supplement bottles? Those could introduce chemicals and foreign chemicals to your tablets. So, you won’t find those in MegaFood products.
10. The bottles that don’t make the cut aren’t wasted.
If any bottles do not come out in accordance to MegaFood’s high standards—if the labels are crooked, for instance–those products are then set aside to be given to employees, who can order 10 free bottles of MegaFood supplements every month! That includes remote employees living all over the country.
The Bottom Line
At MegaFood, they take their time. They don’t work fast, on purpose. It’s not that they want to be slow. It’s that efficiency is not their priority; creating top-quality products is. So they put a ton of care into creating each and every bottle and each and every tablet that goes into your body.
Want to learn more about MegaFood? Get the full scoop here.