The rows worth reading on mastic gum

On a mastic gum supplement label, one row counts

On a mastic gum supplement label, the number worth reading sits in the Supplement Facts table, not in the banner on the front. A front panel that says 1000 mg of a proprietary blend can hide a mastic gum dose of 200 mg behind 800 mg of something cheap. The panel is legally required to tell you more than the banner does.

Walk the table with me. It takes about 30 seconds once you know which rows carry the information and which are decoration.

Row one: the amount per serving

Start with the serving size, because it's the row everyone skips and the one that changes every other number. If a serving is 2 capsules and the bottle holds 60, you have 30 servings, not 60. A label quoting 500 mg per serving is quoting 250 mg per capsule, and that gap is where most price comparisons quietly go wrong.

Then find the mastic gum line itself. If it's listed as a standalone ingredient with a milligram figure, you have a real number. If it's folded into a blend, the figure beside the blend is the total weight of everything in it, and the mastic gum share is undisclosed. A partial disclosure is a partial claim, and it's worth saying so plainly.

Row two: the form matters more than the total weight

Mastic gum appears as powder, as a standardized extract, and occasionally as the raw resin. Standardized extracts carry a stated percentage of a marker compound, which gives you something to compare across brands. Plain powder doesn't, so a 500 mg powder dose and a 500 mg standardized dose aren't equivalent simply because the numbers match.

This is also where the front panel gets creative. A brand can quote the weight of the raw resin if it uses a standardized extract, and the two figures measure different things. Read the ingredient line, not the marketing line.

Row three: the other ingredients list

The ingredients beneath the table are part of what you swallow. Capsule material, flow agents like magnesium stearate, and any sweetener in a chewable all end up in the same dose. None of this is dangerous, but if you're avoiding something specific, this is the row where you find it, and it's the row people never read.

Look for allergens while you're there. Mastic gum products are sometimes compounded with tree nut derivatives or with a cellulose capsule, and for a small number of people that distinction matters a great deal.

What to do when the panel is vague

Ask the seller for the amounts. A brand that knows its formulation can answer in one email. A brand that can't has told you something useful, and you can decide what to do with that.

My own rule: if the mastic gum figure is disclosed per serving, the serving size is clear, and the other ingredients are listed, I'm satisfied. If any of those three is missing, I move on. It's not a judgement about quality. It's just that I'd rather spend my attention on products that answer the question.

Three rows, three questions

Which line has the useful figure? The nutrient row inside Supplement Facts. The blend total on the front tells you far less than the table does.

Do I need to read the other ingredients? Yes. Capsule material, flow agents and sweeteners are part of what you actually take.

What if a panel is vague? Ask the seller for the amounts. A partial disclosure is a partial claim, and the answer tells you plenty.