Guide

Does Vitamatic lactase work? 9,000 ALU on the panel, 9,000 FCC on the bottle, and one tablet a day

Vitamatic Lactase Enzyme is a single-ingredient lactase tablet sold in a bottle of 240. What sets it apart from the lactase on the next shelf is a number that is printed two ways: the front of the bottle and every product title say 9000 FCC, while the Supplement Facts panel says 9000 ALU. The directions are different too, one tablet a day with water, where the lactase trials gave the enzyme just before the dairy. This page sets out the label, the trial doses, what the certificate of analysis covers, what reviewers report and the cost.

What Vitamatic Lactase is, and what it is not

The panel lists one active, lactase enzyme at 9000 ALU per tablet, with 240 tablets to a bottle and no blend. The other ingredients are microcrystalline cellulose, dicalcium phosphate, croscarmellose sodium, stearic acid, silicon dioxide and vegetable magnesium stearate. The brand’s certificate of analysis gives the tablet weight as 90 mg. The label does not name the organism the enzyme comes from or who makes the tablet, and the bottle front’s line “Formulated by Healthcare Professional” gives no name.

The brand states that the product is free of sugar, starch, yeast, soy, wheat, egg, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives, and adds non-GMO and gluten free. We found no statement about tree nuts, fish or sesame and no shared-facility statement. The panel is headed Supplement Facts and the front reads Dietary Supplement.

The unit problem: ALU on the panel, FCC on the bottle

Lactase strength is counted in units of enzyme activity, and the units have different names. FCC is the Food Chemicals Codex unit that Lactaid, LactoJoy, DairyPill and milktab print. ALU stands for acid lactase units. On this product the bottle front, the product title and the Vitacost listing say 9000 FCC; the Supplement Facts panel, the brand’s certificate of analysis and its marketing graphic (“9000 ALU Per Tablet”) say 9000 ALU. The label gives no conversion between the two, and we have not made one.

So the label alone does not say whether one tablet matches the 9,000 FCC that Lactaid Fast Act prints; only the brand can. We found no trial that used ALU, and a 1994 comparison of three commercial products concluded that “all lactase preparations are not the same” (Ramirez et al.).

What the lactase trials used

We found no trial of this tablet: PubMed searches for the product name returned only general lactase papers, and the NIH label database has no record of it. The evidence is for lactase from other products, measured mostly by breath hydrogen, which rises when colon bacteria ferment lactose that was not digested. The milktab guide, the DairyPill guide and the LactoJoy guide cover the same trials against higher-dose tablets, so only the trials closest to this label are set out here.

Read as FCC, one Vitamatic tablet equals the 9,000 FCC arm in the de Vrese trial and is 67% of the 13,500 FCC in the Baijal trial. Read as ALU, none of these trials used the unit. A 2010 systematic review of 36 randomized trials found that lactase dosing varied too much between them to pool.

How to take Vitamatic Lactase

The directions read: “take 1 tablet daily with 8 to 12 oz of water or as directed by your healthcare provider.” They do not say to time the tablet to a dairy meal, and they do not say whether it can be chewed. The trials gave lactase 5 to 15 minutes before the lactose, and the other lactase tablets in this group of guides are dosed per dairy meal. The label also says “Do not exceed the recommended dose,” which sits beside reviewers who describe taking more than one tablet.

What the testing covers

The brand posts a certificate of analysis headed “Third-party Independent Laboratory.” It shows lactase activity at the label claim of 9000 ALU as passed, and aerobic plate count, yeast and molds, Salmonella, E. coli, coliforms, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury as passed. It names no laboratory, lot number or measured value. Its footnote says third-party results are available on request, that “a reduced frequency testing scheme is used,” and that results may not be available for all lots. We found no NSF, USP or Informed Choice mark.

Side effects and who should not take it

The label says to consult a healthcare provider if you are pregnant, nursing, taking any medications or planning any medical procedures, not to use it if the safety seal is broken, and to keep it out of the reach of children. No side-effect report stood out in the 29 review texts we could read.

What the reviews say

The praise in the 29 Vitacost texts is that it lets people eat ice cream or restaurant dairy, that a strong dose fits in a small tablet, and that it has no aftertaste. The recurring complaint is dose: two reviewers say they need “at least 3 tablets” to avoid symptoms, one titling the review “Low potency.” Three more say it did not work, and one expected capsules and received tablets. That fits the spread in the 96-patient test: lactase response varies, and one tablet a day is a lower dose than reviewers say they take.

Who makes it, and the refund terms

A Walmart seller page names Proempire LLC of Elmwood Park, New Jersey; the tablet’s manufacturer is not stated. The brand site accepts returns of new, unopened items within 30 days for a full refund, with return shipping paid by the customer, and the terms apply to brand-site purchases only. When read, the brand’s product page showed a “Sold out” label beside an “Add to cart” button. There is no subscription on the page, and we found no billing complaints specific to this tablet.

Who Vitamatic Lactase is for

• Someone whose gas, bloating or loose stools follow dairy and who wants a low price per tablet in a large bottle.
• A person willing to take it with the first bite of dairy and to add tablets if one is not enough, which is the pattern reviewers describe.

Lactaid Fast Act is the established comparison, printed in FCC. The brand’s other product here is covered in the Vitamatic fiber gummies guide. If dairy is not the only trigger, Do digestive enzymes work? covers the enzyme evidence, and the quiz matches symptoms to products.

Cost

The $19.99 price is the same on the brand site (compare-at $25.99), Amazon and Vitacost, and shipping on the brand site is free over $49. One tablet per dairy meal costs $0.083; the two or three tablets some reviewers take cost two or three times that. A price per 1,000 units is not given for this tablet because the units differ.

The products in this catalog

Common questions

Sources

• de Vrese M, et al. Acid lactase (3,300 and 9,000 FCC) in lactose malabsorbers given 12.5 g lactose: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover, 24 subjects. Clinical Nutrition, 2016. PMID 25042846. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25042846
• Baijal R, et al. Lactase tablets (3 x 4,500 FCC) in adults with lactose intolerance: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover, 47 adults. JGH Open, 2021. PMID 33490624. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33490624
• Ibba I, et al. Lactase (A. oryzae), 15,000 units with 25 g lactose in 96 patients: uncontrolled before-and-after test. BioMed Research International, 2014. PMID 24967391. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24967391
• Ramirez FC, et al. Efficacy of lactase replacement therapy: all lactase preparations are not the same. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 1994. PMID 8147360. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8147360
• Shaukat A, et al. Systematic review: effective management strategies for lactose intolerance, 36 randomized trials. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2010. PMID 20404262. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20404262
• Vitamatic brand page: Lactase Enzyme 240 tablets, with the Supplement Facts panel image and the certificate of analysis image: label, directions, warnings and price. Return terms: vitamaticusa.com/pages/return-policy.
• Vitacost listing: Vitamatic Lactase Enzyme, 240 tablets: panel text, price, rating distribution and review texts.
• Amazon listing: B0CZLP9QXQ: price, rating and rating count.
• Independent profile: Trustpilot. Lactaid, LactoJoy, DairyPill and milktab figures are from the pages linked in the sibling guides above.