STRIPED Dietary Supplement Label Explorer

The STRIPED Dietary Supplement Label Explorer (DSLE) is a research tool designed to facilitate the categorization of dietary product labels contained in the NIH Dietary Supplement Label  Database (NIH DSLD) by type, for research use only.  The manufacturer or distributor is responsible for information on product labels; therefore, the labels might be incomplete and/or inaccurate.  The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is not responsible for the NIH DSLD or any information contained therein. The inclusion of a product and its label in any search results using the DSLE is not an endorsement of that product or its manufacturer.  The description of the DSLE methodology and other information on the DSLE site are not intended as a warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, completeness, or benefits of the DSLE; we disclaim any and all representations or warranties. The DSLE may contain errors or defects that may result in miscategorization or inaccurate information; users should use the tool for research purposes only and at their own risk, and should independently verify any categorization of product labels.

The STRIPED research team utilized a rigorous, multi-step methodology to systematically categorize over 196,782 (as of 11/22/2024) supplement labels from the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements’ Dietary Supplements Label Database (DSLD). [Note: On or around February 16, 2025, the federal government removed the DSLD from public access without any notification or explanation]. We aimed to identify which, if any, of our three categories of interest–weight loss, muscle building, and/or cleanse/detox–applied to each label. Through our analysis, labels could be assigned to one, more than one, or none of the categories depending on what claims were included on the label.

In order to build the STRIPED Dietary Supplement Label Explorer, we developed a gold standard database of over 5000 labels from the DSLD to categorize labels for weight loss, muscle building, and/or cleanse/detox, using a double-coding process with human coders. Two researchers independently coded the labels and reconciled any discrepancies with a third researcher. We then created deterministic heuristics to automatically identify these label categories in the gold standard database based on keywords and phrases. A deterministic heuristic is an algorithmic approach that systematically makes a series of deterministic choices that are optimal at each step, which we utilized to efficiently categorize the very large number of labels in the DSLD. The heuristics were iteratively tested and refined using rigorous, scientific performance metrics against the gold standard database housed in a custom WordPress tool. Once finalized, the heuristics were integrated into the tool to power a public-facing searchable database of all labels in the DSLD. The results of our performance testing for our deterministic heuristic are as follows:

Performance metrics for the automated classification of dietary supplement labels in DSLD via deterministic heuristic vs. gold standard classification

Through our rigorous, scientific process for development, testing, and refinement, our tool achieved excellent performance metrics in categorizing labels. Still, readers should be aware that our tool may miss or miscategorize a small proportion of labels in DSLD. We encourage users to use the keyword search in our tool to further refine searches for their own purposes. Users also should be aware that while the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements intended DSLD to contain only Supplement Facts labels, DSLD still inadvertently includes a small number of Nutrition Facts labels.

Now freely and publicly available on our website, the STRIPED Dietary Supplement Label Explorer can be used to browse, search, and filter labels identified through our rigorous development and testing process. This tool will be updated quarterly to align with the records contained in the current version of the NIH’s Dietary Supplements Label Database [Note: On or around February 16, 2025, the federal government removed the DSLD from public access without any notification or explanation].

How do I search using keywords?

• When performing a search, keywords will be searched individually with an “OR” between each word by default. This will return results containing any of the keywords. For example, searching weight loss will search for labels with either the word weight OR loss.

How do I search using exact phrases?

• To search for an exact phrase, enclose the words in double quotes. This will return only results containing the exact phrase as quoted. For example, searching “weight loss” will locate labels with this exact phrase.

How do I browse by label type?

• Select a label type (Cleanse/Detox, Muscle Building, or Weight Loss) and select Filter Results to see which labels fall into that category. You can select more than one label type to find labels that fall into multiple categories.

Can I download the results?

• Due to file size limitations, only search results containing 5,000 items or fewer can be downloaded.