Spot a Proprietary Blend

The blend that hides the numbers

A proprietary blend is a group of ingredients listed together under one name, with a single total weight for the whole group instead of an amount for each ingredient. You see the grand total, but not how much of each thing is inside it. Manufacturers sometimes use blends to protect a recipe, and sometimes to put a lot of a cheap ingredient and a sprinkle of an expensive one behind the same number.

It is not always a problem, but it is always worth noticing, because it leaves you guessing.

How to spot one

1. Look for the words proprietary blend, complex, matrix, or a brand-style name followed by a single milligram total.
2. Check whether the ingredients underneath have their own amounts. If they do not, the amounts are hidden in the blend.
3. Read the order of ingredients, since they are usually listed from most to least, but without numbers you still cannot tell how much of each.
4. Compare the blend total to the number of ingredients in it. A small total split across many ingredients means very little of each.
5. Set it beside a fully disclosed label and see which one actually tells you what you are getting.

Why full amounts matter

When every ingredient is listed with its own amount, you can see exactly what you are buying, compare it fairly against other products, and know what you are taking each day. That transparency is the whole reason the panel exists. A hidden amount cannot be compared and cannot be checked.

Halden takes the opposite approach to a proprietary blend. It carries a full-disclosure label, with each of its six actives and its exact amount printed for you: Cinnamon Bark 70mg, White Mulberry Leaf 60mg, Juniper Extract 55mg, Bitter Melon Extract 50mg, Berberine HCL Extract 25mg, and Chromium Picolinate 200mcg.

A quick gut check

Before you buy, ask one question of the label: can I see how much of each ingredient is in here? If the answer is yes, you can make an informed choice. If the answer is no, you are trusting a single number to stand in for everything inside.

You deserve to know what you are putting in your body. A label that shows its work is doing you a favour.

• Watch for blend, complex, or matrix with one total.
• No per-ingredient amount means hidden amounts.
• Full disclosure lets you compare and verify.