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Supplement Stack Checker · method and verification

How was the Supplement Stack Checker checked, and what did the independent check find?

A separate reader recomputed the figures from the raw files and matched them with no mismatches. The method was written and hashed on 11 November 2026 before any figure was published.

What was fixed before any figure was published?

The method was frozen on 11 November 2026. The file's SHA-256 hash begins 89d8bb80b9a1. The tool refuses to build if the method file no longer matches its hash.

What does the independent check do?

  1. Every figure the tool shows for a label equals the label's stored row (checked by recomputation from the raw zip for a random 500 labels, seed written in the build log).
  2. Every limit shown equals its row in `ul-limits.csv`, which was built with a cell-count control against the stored tables.
  3. A row the rules cannot convert is listed as "cannot assess", and the count of such rows is reported beside every aggregate.
  4. Unit and form rules are unit-tested against worked examples copied from the NIH sheets (15 mg natural alpha-tocopherol = 22.4 IU; 1 mcg vitamin D = 40 IU; the DFE example in the folate sheet).
  5. A control case: a stack built to exceed one limit must be flagged, and one built to sit under every limit must not be, or the suite fails.

What did it find?

MeasureResult
Labels sampled500
Labels with simple nutrients154
Nutrient values compared461
Mismatches0
Seed20,261,112
NutrientsVitaminC, VitaminB6, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Selenium, Iodine

The checking has so far led to no amendments to the method.

What is still not covered?

Labels declare amounts per serving, and many state "as" forms in free text that only partly map. Blends with no stated quantity per ingredient cannot be assessed. Pediatric and elderly groups use the sheet's age bands. The NIH sheets have different reviewed dates (2021 to 2026); each result states the sheet's date.

How can you check it yourself?

The source data is public: see the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. The dataset, the method and the code that rebuilds it are published at doi:10.5281/zenodo.24148920. Open the Supplement Stack Checker to see the result.

Questions about how the check works

What does "frozen before the first publication" mean?

The method was written, hashed and saved before any figure from the data was published. A change after that is an amendment with a date, and the original hash is kept, so anyone can see what was decided and when.

Why does an independent reader matter?

A tool can agree with itself and still be wrong. A separate reader, written without the builder's code, recomputes the figures from the raw files; where the two disagree, one of them has a defect.

Does a clean check mean the tool is always right?

No. It means the numbers match an independent recomputation under the stated method. The limits section lists what the method does not cover.

Further reading: Zenodo, where the datasets are deposited; the FAIR data principles; the National Academies on reproducibility; the author's ORCID record; the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database.

Compiled by Vincent Wesley Couey (ORCID 0009-0005-6869-308X).

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