{ "dataset": "beta-carotene-cost-by-brand", "title": "Beta-Carotene Supplements Compared — cost per mg of beta-carotene, isolated vs mixed-carotenoid, and smoker contraindication", "sourcePage": "https://verifiedsupplementdata.com/beta-carotene/best-overall/", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "Verified Supplement Data (2026), Beta-Carotene Cost Comparison", "dateModified": "2026-07-19", "methodology": "Two of the four tracked products (NOW Foods, Pure Encapsulations) disclose beta-carotene mg directly (25,000 IU, using the standard 1667 IU-per-mg label conversion, ≈15mg), so costPerMgBetaCarotene = price / (servings x beta-carotene mg per serving) is computable for those two. The other two (Karuna, Country Life) sell mixed-carotenoid blends without disclosing the beta-carotene mg specifically — costPerMgBetaCarotene is null for those, and that opacity is disclosed, not glossed over. \"verdict\" flags dose category against the trial evidence: isolated-near-harm-dose (discloses ~15mg beta-carotene, close to the 20mg/day ATBC 1994 harm-trial dose and well within range of CARET 1996's 30mg/day harm-trial dose) or mixed-undisclosed-dose (beta-carotene mg not disclosed, positioned as mixed-carotenoid). IMPORTANT — THIS RANKING DOES NOT CROWN THE HIGHEST-IU ISOLATED PRODUCT: two large RCTs (ATBC 1994, PMID 8127329, n=29,133 Finnish male smokers; CARET 1996, PMID 8602180, n=18,314 smokers/former smokers/asbestos-exposed, stopped 21 months early) found high-dose isolated beta-carotene supplementation significantly INCREASED lung cancer incidence and mortality in those populations, corroborated by a 2012 Cochrane meta-analysis of 78 RCTs (Bjelakovic, PMID 22419320, increased all-cause mortality) and AREDS2's within-trial imbalance (PMID 23644932, 23 vs 11 lung cancers, concentrated in former smokers). Current/former smokers and anyone with significant asbestos exposure should not take beta-carotene supplements. Dietary beta-carotene is a separate, generally favorable evidence picture (PMID 27243945, PMID 30475962) though even that is confounded by smoking status (PMID 1610967). This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA; these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.", "headline": { "productsCompared": 4, "disclosedBetaCaroteneMg": 2, "undisclosedBetaCaroteneMg": 2, "retailTypicalMg": 15, "atbcHarmDoseMg": 20, "caretHarmDoseMg": 30, "mixedCarotenoidPickBrand": "Country Life", "cheapestIsolatedBrand": "NOW Foods", "cheapestIsolatedCostPerMg": 0.0081, "note": "The isolated 25,000 IU products (NOW, Pure Encapsulations) are NOT the recommended default even though their cost-per-mg is computable — their beta-carotene dose sits close to the ATBC/CARET harm-trial doses. The honest best-overall pick leads with the lower-beta-carotene-dominance mixed-carotenoid products instead, and flags all four as contraindicated for current/former smokers and anyone with significant asbestos exposure." }, "columns": [ "brand", "product", "slug", "form", "mgPerServing", "activeMgPerServing", "servings", "price", "costPerServing", "costPerMgBetaCarotene", "verdict", "thirdParty" ], "units": { "activeMgPerServing": "mg beta-carotene", "price": "USD", "costPerServing": "USD/serving", "costPerMgBetaCarotene": "USD per mg of beta-carotene" }, "citations": [ { "claim": "RCT n=29,133 Finnish male smokers aged 50-69, alpha-tocopherol (50mg/day) and/or beta-carotene (20mg/day) vs placebo, 5-8 years: beta-carotene group had 18% higher lung cancer incidence and 8% higher total mortality vs placebo.", "source": "ATBC Study Group 1994, New England Journal of Medicine", "pmid": "8127329" }, { "claim": "RCT n=18,314 smokers, former smokers, and asbestos-exposed workers, 30mg beta-carotene + 25,000 IU retinyl palmitate/day vs placebo, stopped 21 months early: lung cancer incidence up 28% (RR 1.28), lung cancer mortality up 46%, total mortality up 17%.", "source": "Omenn/Goodman/Thornquist et al. 1996, New England Journal of Medicine (CARET)", "pmid": "8602180" }, { "claim": "Meta-analysis of 78 RCTs, n=296,707, antioxidant supplements and mortality: beta-carotene (alone or combined) associated with significantly increased all-cause mortality across pooled trials.", "source": "Bjelakovic et al. 2012, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews", "pmid": "22419320" }, { "claim": "RCT n=4,203 adults 50-85 at risk of AMD progression, testing added lutein+zeaxanthin and/or omega-3s to the AREDS formula: more lung cancers in the beta-carotene vs no-beta-carotene arm (23 vs 11), concentrated in former smokers — the reason AREDS2 replaced beta-carotene with lutein/zeaxanthin.", "source": "AREDS2 Research Group 2013, JAMA", "pmid": "23644932" }, { "claim": "Prospective cohort n=5,080 men, dietary beta-carotene intake vs lung cancer: protective association in unadjusted analysis approached/crossed the null value after adjusting for smoking status.", "source": "Shibata et al. 1992, Cancer Causes Control", "pmid": "1610967" }, { "claim": "Meta-analysis of prospective cohorts: higher dietary beta-carotene intake associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality (RR 0.83); higher circulating beta-carotene levels showed a stronger association (RR 0.69).", "source": "Zhao et al. 2016, Scientific Reports", "pmid": "27243945" } ], "products": [ { "brand": "NOW Foods", "product": "Natural Beta Carotene 25,000 IU", "slug": "now-foods-beta-carotene-25000iu", "form": "Softgel", "mgPerServing": 15, "activeMgPerServing": 15, "servings": 180, "price": 21.9, "costPerServing": 0.12, "costPerMgBetaCarotene": 0.0081, "verdict": "isolated-near-harm-dose", "thirdParty": "None stated" }, { "brand": "Pure Encapsulations", "product": "Beta Carotene (with Mixed Carotenoids) 25,000 IU", "slug": "pure-encapsulations-beta-carotene-mixed-25000iu", "form": "Softgel", "mgPerServing": 15, "activeMgPerServing": 15, "servings": 90, "price": 37, "costPerServing": 0.41, "costPerMgBetaCarotene": 0.0274, "verdict": "isolated-near-harm-dose", "thirdParty": "Hypoallergenic, NSF-audited GMP" }, { "brand": "Country Life", "product": "Carotenoid Complex", "slug": "country-life-carotenoid-complex", "form": "Softgel", "mgPerServing": null, "activeMgPerServing": null, "servings": 60, "price": 27.59, "costPerServing": 0.46, "costPerMgBetaCarotene": null, "verdict": "mixed-undisclosed-dose", "thirdParty": "None stated" }, { "brand": "Karuna", "product": "Mixed Carotenoids", "slug": "karuna-mixed-carotenoids", "form": "Vegetarian capsule", "mgPerServing": 7.75, "activeMgPerServing": null, "servings": 30, "price": 36.6, "costPerServing": 1.22, "costPerMgBetaCarotene": null, "verdict": "mixed-undisclosed-dose", "thirdParty": "None stated" } ] }