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Choosing vitamin D products for vegetarians or vegans

Last updated See all updates
Topics: ColecalciferolErgocalciferolExcipientsFormulation

This article explains how the source of vitamin D or inactive ingredients (excipients) may make some products unsuitable for vegetarians or vegans.

Contents
  1. Vegetarian and vegan diets
  2. Choosing a product
    1. Active ingredients
    2. Excipients (inactive ingredients)
    3. Legal status
  4. Further advice
  5. Products suitable for vegans
    1. Licensed medicines
    2. Food supplements
  7. Products suitable for vegetarians
    1. Licensed medicines
    2. Food supplements
  9. Products unsuitable for vegans or vegetarians
    1. Licensed medicines
    2. Food supplements
  11. Update history

Vegetarian and vegan diets

Vegan diets exclude substances of animal origin, including insects.

Vegetarians diets exclude substances that require the death of an animal or insect. Substances from live animals are generally acceptable, such as:

  • milk and dairy products
  • eggs
  • honey, beeswax or propolis
  • wool fat (lanolin) from living sheep that will not be slaughtered

For further details, see the formal definitions of vegan and vegetarian diets from The European Vegetarian Union.

Choosing a product

Patients not diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency or certain conditions resulting in malabsorption should be encouraged to buy their own vitamin supplements. NHS England and NHS Clinical Commissioners recommend that vitamin supplements should not be prescribed routinely in primary care.

When choosing or advising on a product that is suitable for a vegetarian or vegan, consider the appropriateness of the active and inactive ingredients.

This page is about preparations containing vitamin D only.

See our page for guidance if you need a vitamin D preparation with calcium:

Active ingredients

Vitamin D products may contain colecalciferol (vitamin D3) or ergocalciferol (vitamin D2).

Colecalciferol is synthetically produced using 7-dehydrocholesterol from lanolin (wool fat), or from lichen.

Products originating from wool fat are unacceptable to vegans. They may be acceptable to vegetarians if the wool is from sheep that will not be slaughtered.

Ergocalciferol is produced from fungi or yeasts and is acceptable to vegans and vegetarians.

There is some evidence that colecalciferol is more effective in treating vitamin D deficiency than ergocalciferol. Colecalciferol products are therefore preferred, where possible.

Excipients (inactive ingredients)

Some excipients, such as gelatin, make a product unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans.

For further details, see our page Excipients: What are the general considerations for vegan patients?

Understanding excipients in medicines provides general information and advice on handling issues regarding excipients.

Legal status

Some vitamin D products are licensed as medicines. Others are classified as foods rather than medicines and are available to buy as supplements.

Explaining the licensed status of medicines provides more detail on the differences between medicines and food supplements.

Further advice

In producing this information, we have limited our enquiries to the content of the product itself and made the following assumptions:

  • if the manufacturer states the product is compatible with vegetarian or vegan diets, this is correct
  • if the manufacturer was unable to confirm compatibility with vegetarian or vegan diets, we have assumed incompatibility
  • if the manufacturer states that colecalciferol is from live sheep this means the sheep have not been bred for slaughter

If you need to know if a product may have been in contact with animal-derived substances during manufacturing, contact the manufacturer.

Manufacturers may change the formulations of their products. Check with the manufacturer for the most up to date information on the origins of a product’s ingredients.

Update history

  1. Full review and update of article with changes to structure.
  2. Published

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