Vitamin A
Of 11,422 on-market vitamin a products in the January 2026 DSLD dump, the median declared dose is 1,050 mcg RAE, and 42.7% list Beta-Carotene as the primary form.
Form share
Of 8,980 products with an identifiable primary form, here is the share held by each form of Vitamin A on the market today.
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| Form | Quality tier | n | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beta-Carotene | Tier 2 | 3,833 | 42.7% |
| unspecified/undisclosed form | Unrated | 2,924 | 32.6% |
| Retinyl Palmitate | Tier 1 | 1,604 | 17.9% |
| Retinyl Acetate | Tier 1 | 619 | 6.9% |
Form share over time
Entry-year breakdown of the top forms, 2012–2025.
Dose distribution
Deciles of declared dose per serving (mcg RAE), among 10,267 products with a disclosed amount, against the RDA of 900 and UL of 3000.
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- 0.4% of products don't disclose an amount because Vitamin A is declared inside a proprietary blend.
Where does your dose rank?
Enter a per-serving dose (mcg RAE) to see exactly how it compares to the 10,243 on-market vitamin a products with a disclosed amount. The chart above groups doses into deciles; this looks up the exact percentile for one number.
By dosage form
By target group
Top brands
| Brand | Products |
|---|---|
| Douglas Laboratories | 302 |
| Centrum | 182 |
| DC | 143 |
| Nature's Way | 136 |
| Wonder Laboratories | 135 |
| Carlson | 116 |
| Source Naturals | 114 |
| Syntrax | 109 |
| Nature Made | 107 |
| The Vitamin Shoppe | 102 |
| MegaFood | 94 |
| NOW | 91 |
| Bayer One A Day | 90 |
| Garden of Life | 88 |
| Bluebonnet | 88 |
| New Chapter | 87 |
| Pure Encapsulations | 84 |
| GNC Mega Men | 83 |
| Vitamin World | 81 |
| Life Extension | 80 |
| Metagenics | 80 |
| GNC Pro Performance | 79 |
| Solgar | 74 |
| Country Life | 73 |
| XYMOGEN | 73 |
Search interest over time
How often people search for vitamin a on Google, US only, the last 5 years. This is public interest, not DSLD label data — a spike here doesn't necessarily line up with anything on this page, and Google's own index (100 = that term's peak popularity in the chosen window) is relative, not an absolute search-volume count.
Or see this search directly on trends.google.com.
Forms explained
Preformed retinyl esters are efficiently and near-completely hydrolyzed to retinol during absorption, so the RAE conversion is a direct 1:1 with retinol by definition.
Source: NIH ODS Vitamin A fact sheet RAE table
Same as retinyl palmitate -- a preformed retinol ester with 1:1 RAE conversion.
Source: NIH ODS Vitamin A fact sheet RAE table
Requires enzymatic intestinal conversion to retinol, with conversion efficiency that varies between individuals; the current NIH ODS ratios are 12:1 for dietary beta-carotene and 2:1 for supplemental beta-carotene. High-dose supplemental beta-carotene (20-30mg/day) also increased lung cancer risk specifically in smokers (and asbestos-exposed workers) in two large RCTs -- a safety note, not a blanket warning against beta-carotene generally.
Source: NIH ODS Vitamin A fact sheet; ATBC 1994 PMID 8127329, CARET/Omenn 1996 PMID 8602180
Label discloses only "Vitamin A" with no source, so preformed retinol and beta-carotene can't be told apart.
Reference values
- RDA (adult): 900 mcg RAE — 900mcg RAE (men 19+); 700mcg RAE (women 19+)
- Tolerable Upper Intake Level (adult): 3000 mcg RAE — Applies only to preformed vitamin A (retinol/retinyl esters); no UL set for beta-carotene or other provitamin-A carotenoids
- Studied clinical dose range: ?–? mcg RAE
- Deliberately left null rather than populated with a misleading number. The two largest RCTs found for vitamin A/beta-carotene supplementation -- the ATBC trial (1994, NEJM 330(15):1029-35, PMID 8127329, 20mg/day beta-carotene) and CARET (Omenn GS et al. 1996, NEJM 334(18):1150-5, PMID 8602180, 30mg/day beta-carotene + 25,000 IU/day retinyl palmitate) -- are HARM-signal trials in smokers/asbestos workers (increased lung cancer incidence/mortality), not "typical studied dose for benefit" trials. Presenting those doses as a normal studied-dose range would misrepresent the evidence; a fairy-dust-threshold style stat doesn't have a defensible basis here.
- Note: RAE conversions: 1 IU retinol = 0.3mcg RAE; 1 IU supplemental beta-carotene = 0.3mcg RAE; 1 IU dietary beta-carotene = 0.05mcg RAE; 1 IU dietary alpha-carotene/beta- cryptoxanthin = 0.025mcg RAE. 1mcg RAE = 1mcg retinol = 2mcg supplemental beta-carotene = 12mcg dietary beta-carotene = 24mcg dietary alpha-carotene/beta-cryptoxanthin. Source: NIH ODS Vitamin A fact sheet + FDA Guidance for Industry, Aug 2019.