If you’ve ever been to any health food / vitamin store, you’ve seen them. They’re one of the sports nutrition supplement industry’s most frequently used tricks. In short, a proprietary blend is a mix of at least two or more ingredients in a supplement. Some supplements are comprised entirely of one or more proprietary blends. The danger with proprietary blends is that, while you are able to see what products are in your supplement, you can’t see how much of the product there is. Some manufacturers will list ingredients on their labels under the term “Proprietary Blend” but put such a small amount of the important ingredients in the supplements that you would never feel the effects. The product still looks good because you can see all the ingredients you think should be there, but in reality, there’s hardly anything in the product. In the industry, this is commonly referred to as “label decoration”.

Proprietary blends (like many other things) are a tool that can be used both for good and evil. This term was originally created for companies that had created a mix of ingredients they were proud of and wanted to protect from theft. Over time, people began to use it as a way to make their products look much better than they actually were.

So how do you as a consumer tell if a proprietary blend is being used as label decoration, or as a legitimate business practice? Well, unfortunately you can’t. Your best bet is to base your decision on the company’s reputation. Check out their website, get in contact with them and talk to them on the phone. A good rule of thumb is that if there are more proprietary blends than listed ingredients on the label, and especially if a product is made exclusively out of proprietary blends, don’t waste your time and money. You can do better.