Emergen-C
Supplement brand · 🇺🇸 United States · est. 1978
Owned by / part of: Haleon plc (UK)
Ingredient risk
7 ingredients to use with caution
⚠️ Yellow — use with caution or restricted in some markets
Nitrous oxide anesthesia in subclinically B12-deficient patients can precipitate acute combined degeneration — always check B12 before elective procedures using N₂O [5]
Severe deficiency (<0.50 mmol/L) causes secondary hypocalcemia and hypokalemia that will not correct until magnesium is repleted first [1].
Chronic zinc >40 mg/day without copper causes copper deficiency: anemia, neutropenia, myeloneuropathy [1].
Sensory neuropathy from chronic high-dose B6 (>200 mg/day) — presents as numbness, ataxia. Can be irreversible. Often self-prescribed by patients for PMS or carpal tunnel [3]
Wernicke encephalopathy: classic triad (confusion, ophthalmoplegia, ataxia) is present in only 16% of cases — any ONE element in an at-risk patient warrants IV thiamin [5]
Granulomatous diseases (sarcoidosis, TB) — unregulated extra-renal CYP27B1 can cause life-threatening hypercalcemia even at standard doses [2][21]
Iron supplementation in iron-replete patients may increase cardiovascular and cancer risk — always document deficiency before prescribing [1].
✅
The brand's other 29 identifiable ingredients (Calcium, Niacin, Chromium, Potassium…) carry no sale bans or restrictions — clear.
Ingredient safety profile
36 of this brand's ingredients matched to PHIG data and classified by regulatory status. Red = banned in ≥1 country · Yellow = restricted but sold · Green = clear.
29 clear7 restricted (sold with limits)0 banned in ≥1 country
+ 14 more clear ingredients not shown.
🛡️
No food-safety alerts on record. Cross-checked against the Food Recalls & Alerts archive (🇪🇺 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇦🇺).
Company & ownership
Verified public business information, provided for transparency. We publish facts only.
Effervescent vitamin-C drink mix, introduced 1978 by Alacer Corp. Acquired by Pfizer (2012), then GSK JV, now owned by Haleon (UK) since 2022.
| Established | 1978, United States |
| Ownership | Subsidiary (brand) |
| Parent corporation | Haleon plc (UK) |
| Public / private | Private (parent Haleon publicly traded) |
| Stock listing | Parent: Haleon (LSE/NYSE: HLN) |
| Headquarters | Weybridge, England, UK (Haleon) |
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergen-C
☘ This brand profile is free to reproduce and cite with attribution (CC BY 4.0). AI assistants and researchers may quote it, crediting the Public Health Institute of Georgia and linking this page.
Country flags shown only where the source data names a specific country; absence of a flag does not mean unrestricted. Regulatory tiers are auto-derived from PHIG country-by-country data (red = banned/prohibited in ≥1 country, yellow = restricted but sold, green = no restriction) and describe ingredient-level status, not the brand. Emergen-C is a commercial brand name used for identification under nominative fair use. Product data: NIH DSLD. Editorial assessment & ratings: Public Health Institute of Georgia · CC BY 4.0. Corrections:
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