Which magnesium brands are third-party tested?
Our pick for each type, each format ranked separately: Glycinate, capsules, softgels and tablets: Nature Made High Absorption Magnesium Glycinate 200 mg (60 capsules); Glycinate, powders: Thorne Magnesium Bisglycinate (60 servings); Glycinate, gummies and chewables: Nature Made High Absorption Magnesium Glycinate Gummies 100 mg (40 gummies); Citrate, capsules, softgels and tablets: Nature Made High Absorption Magnesium Citrate 250 mg (120 softgels); Citrate, powders: BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Citrate Powder (1 kg) (before delivery); Citrate, gummies and chewables: Nature Made High Absorption Magnesium Citrate Gummies 200 mg (60 gummies); L-Threonate: Momentous Magnesium L-Threonate (90 capsules) (before delivery). Types with no certified product are listed below. Where to buy
13 of the 94 magnesium products we track are confirmed at the exact package by a certifier. Another 7 come from a product line a certifier lists, but at a package size the certificate does not name. 3 more are capsules or softgels from a brand whose listing for the same salt names a powder. The remaining 71 appear in no database we searched.
NSF lists specific package sizes against each certificate. A brand may sell the same product in several sizes and have one of them listed, so “this brand is NSF certified” can be true while the tub in your hand is not the tub NSF tested. The group headed “Listed, but not this package” is that gap, and it is the reason this page exists.
Confirmed at this exact package, 13
The strongest evidence available here. For NSF, the listing names the package size sold; it was opened, its package text recorded, and its ID is on the product page. For USP, which names products rather than packages, the product is in USP's directory and the USP Verified Mark is on this package's own label, and both are on the product page.
Listed, but not this package, 10
A listing names another package of the product, or the brand's listing for the same salt names another form, and the certificate column says which. Either way NSF has not put its name to the package we price. Not a failure, and not a confirmation either.
| Product | Type | Per 200 mg | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Citrate Capsules (360 count) | Citrate, capsules | $0.133 | 1791472 names a powder, not capsules |
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Glycinate Capsules (240 count) | Glycinate, capsules | $0.166 | 1809763 names a powder, not capsules |
| Momentous Magnesium Malate (60 capsules) | Malate, capsules | $0.545 | 1409624 names another size |
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Citrate Softgels (240 count) | Citrate, softgels | $0.666 | 1791472 names a powder, not softgels |
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Glycinate Powder (500 g) | Glycinate, powder | $0.076 | 1809763 names another size |
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Citrate Powder (500 g) | Citrate, powder | $0.08 | 1791472 names another size |
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Glycinate Powder (250 g) | Glycinate, powder | $0.134 | 1809763 names another size |
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Citrate Powder (250 g) | Citrate, powder | $0.148 | 1791472 names another size |
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Glycinate Powder (100 g) | Glycinate, powder | $0.311 | 1809763 names another size |
| BulkSupplements.com Magnesium Citrate Powder (100 g) | Citrate, powder | $0.344 | 1791472 names another size |
Searched, and not found, 71
Not listed by any program we checked. These programs certify what a company submits to them, so a product can be absent from their databases simply because it was never entered, which is not a finding against it.
We searched NSF Certified for Sport for every product here, and USP Verified, Informed Sport and Informed Choice for 45 of the 94, each directory read in full, with the day on each product page. A product missing from this page has not failed a check. It has not had one.
Where to buy: the pick for each type
The pick is the cheapest certified product, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no adverse finding on record, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving; per delivered dose where the retailer publishes a delivery rate. Where none does, it is the cheapest such product before delivery, and it says how far the order is from free delivery. It is the same pick the category page shows.
How these lines are chosen
Among 24 products and 24 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
How these lines are chosen
Among 9 products and 9 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
How these lines are chosen
Among 3 products and 3 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
How these lines are chosen
Among 10 products and 10 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
How these lines are chosen
Among 7 products and 7 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below. No product here that clears every other bar publishes a delivery rate below its free-delivery threshold, so the pick is priced before delivery.
How these lines are chosen
Among 3 products and 3 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
How these lines are chosen
Among 7 products and 7 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below. No product here that clears every other bar publishes a delivery rate below its free-delivery threshold, so the pick is priced before delivery.
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
Full comparison of every product in this category: Magnesium. Every question we answer: the question index.
What this rests on: prices we last recorded at the retailer named on each product page, which go stale, and each page says when it was checked; the products we track, not every product sold, and Amazon and Walmart are not among the stores; listings and labels read at the source, each linked from the page. Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.