Under U.S. regulations, supplements must meet their labeled dose by expiration, but melatonin's instability requires manufacturers to add overage to ensure compliance.

“in commercially available melatonin, the amount of melatonin has been tested for various brands, it can range anywhere from being 15% of what's listed on the bottle... or up to 400 times more than what's listed on the bottle, so it's completely unregulated”

“despite the fact that the label says 5 milligrams they can be up to a 500 to a thousandfold actual concentration in that supplement”

“we're seeing extremely high I'm not even talking like double I'm talking 10 20 30X the upper limit range for melatonin the next morning”

“And so that's kind of the struggle that we as medical doctors have. And I know we get a lot of slack for it, that we don't talk about supplements, but it's really the challenge there is like finding the quality supplements.”

“My guess is that a normal night's release of melatonin typical for somebody in their 20s, 30s, 40s would be far lower than that. Am I correct or wrong? Yeah, it's a many magnitudes lower. And this is one of the problems is that I see that too. So I see, you know, typical doses are, you know, 5 millig or 10 millig.”

“A recent study reports that some sleep supplements may contain far more melatonin than the label indicates”

“Melatonin, however, is inherently unstable and progressively degrades over time. As a result, quality-focused companies intentionally add additional melatonin upfront (as "overage), anticipating natural degradation to ensure compliance with labeling standards at expiration.”

“Paradoxically, the presence of excess melatonin can sometimes reflect better manufacturing standards.”

“Melatonin supplements are notoriously variable, containing anywhere from 83% less to 478% more melatonin than indicated on their labels.”

“Paradoxically, the presence of excess melatonin can sometimes reflect better manufacturing standards.”

“Under current U.S. regulations, supplements must deliver at least the labeled dose by their expiration date, typically two to three years post-manufacture. Melatonin, however, is inherently unstable and progressively degrades over time. As a result, quality-focused companies intentionally add additional melatonin upfront (as "overage), anticipating natural degradation to ensure compliance with labeling standards at expiration.”

“Melatonin supplements are notoriously variable, containing anywhere from 83% less to 478% more melatonin than indicated on their labels.”