On a garlic supplement, the useful figure is the allicin yield in the Supplement Facts panel, given in mg or as mcg of allicin potential, and it is not the bulb weight printed on the front. Read that row first. Everything else on the allicin supplement label is context for it.
Walk the label line by line
Front panel: marketing. Bulb equivalent, aged extract, numbers in the hundreds of milligrams. Back panel: the rows you actually compare. Concentrate weight, standardized potency, then the other-ingredients list. Work down in that order and you will see in 30 seconds whether two bottles deliver anything remotely similar, which is the only comparison that matters when both cost about the same per day and both claim to be garlic.
The allicin row that carries the real figure
Allicin potential, expressed in mcg, tells you how much of the compound a tablet can yield when it is crushed and dissolved. A bulb-equivalent weight does not tell you that. A powder capsule listing 1,000 mg of bulb might yield 2,500 mcg, or it might yield almost nothing if the alliinase enzyme was killed by heat during drying at 60 C. Same front of the label. Same price. Different product.
Read the other ingredients too
Capsule shell, flow agents, enteric coating, sweeteners. All of it is part of what you swallow, and none of it appears on the front of the box. An enteric coating changes where the tablet opens, and that changes how much of the potency you actually get at the other end of the trip, sometimes by 40 percent or more of the original figure. You don't need to fear excipients. You do need to know that 100% pure on the front and a 120 count ingredient list on the back are describing the same box, and that the front is selling while the back is reporting.
When the panel tells you nothing
Some labels print a blend total and stop there. Some print potency in units you can't compare against the next bottle on the shelf. At that point there is no label skill left to apply, and no amount of squinting at the fine print will produce a figure that isn't there. Email the seller and ask for the amount per capsule in mg or mcg. A partial disclosure is a partial claim, and a seller who won't answer a one-line email is already answering it.
Three questions that come up every time
Which line has the useful figure. The nutrient row inside Supplement Facts, every time, because the blend total on the front tells you far less than the number you can actually compare. Do you need to read the other ingredients. Yes, and most people skip that row, even though capsule material, flow agents and sweeteners are part of what you swallow 30 or 60 times a month. What if a panel is vague. Ask the seller for the amounts in writing, since a partial disclosure is a partial claim and you are allowed to treat it that way.
What no label can tell you
No panel on any shelf states what an ingredient will do for you. Labels describe quantity and form. If a garlic capsule makes a body-outcome claim on the front, treat it as a claim with no panel behind it. Quantity and form are what you can verify at home, with 30 seconds and a phone.
Read the back panel. Find the potency figure. Compare it per dollar across two bottles. Then buy. It's the cheapest due diligence left in the aisle.
Frequently asked questions
Which line has the useful figure?Show answerHide answer
The nutrient row inside Supplement Facts. The blend total on the front tells you far less.
Do I need to read the other ingredients?Show answerHide answer
Yes. Capsule material, flow agents and sweeteners are part of what you swallow.
What if a panel is vague?Show answerHide answer
Ask the seller for the amounts. A partial disclosure is a partial claim.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
