Review Guidelines – How We Fact Check

1. Introduction and Purpose

At Daily Health Supplement, we are dedicated to providing high-quality, well-researched reviews and articles covering a wide range of health topics including diet, fitness, skincare, wellness, nutrition, and weight loss. Our commitment to transparency and accuracy is fundamental to our mission and essential for maintaining trust with our readers, staff, partners, and sources. This document is the authoritative reference for how our editorial team researches, verifies, and publishes content across every category we cover, and it is reviewed and updated periodically to reflect current best practices in health journalism, search quality expectations, and consumer protection law.

We believe that in a market where supplement claims are rarely independently verified before reaching consumers, an editorial team's fact-checking discipline is the single most important trust signal it can offer. Every policy described below exists because we have seen, over more than a decade of publishing, what happens when review sites skip these steps: readers get misled, unsafe products go unflagged, and predatory brands operate without scrutiny. This document is intentionally long and detailed because we believe readers, partners, and even competing publishers deserve to understand exactly how our conclusions are reached, not simply that we claim to be “trusted.”

This methodology functions as a living contract between Daily Health Supplement and its audience. It sets expectations for what a review published on our site actually represents: a structured, evidence-based judgment formed after multiple layers of independent verification, not a paraphrased version of a manufacturer's marketing page. We ask every member of our team, from junior researchers to senior medical reviewers, to treat this document as binding rather than aspirational.

2. Our Mission and History

Since our inception in 2012, Daily Health Supplement has published over 2,000 articles and conducted more than 5,000 product reviews. Our primary objectives include:

  • Helping people find trustworthy products and supplements backed by real evidence rather than marketing hype.
  • Offering informative and useful articles on health and wellness written in clear, accessible language.
  • Exposing health and beauty product scams, mislabeling, and predatory sales tactics wherever we encounter them.
  • Building a community around health and wellness where readers can share honest, verifiable experiences.
  • Serving as a reference point for journalists, regulators, and consumer advocacy groups researching supplement industry practices.

Because dietary supplements in the United States are not required to undergo FDA pre-market approval for safety or efficacy the way pharmaceutical drugs are, a regulatory gap the FDA itself documents in its FDA 101: Dietary Supplements consumer guidance, independent review platforms play a meaningful role in consumer protection. Over more than a decade, our team has built institutional knowledge that allows us to recognize red flags, recycled marketing language, and formulation patterns that a newer publication would lack the historical context to catch.

Our history also means we have tracked how individual brands and formulations evolve over time. When a company reformulates a product after receiving criticism in one of our reviews, we document that evolution rather than treating each version as an unrelated product. This longitudinal view is something few newer review sites can offer, and it materially improves the reliability of our assessments regarding company intent and manufacturing consistency.

2.1 Timeline of Institutional Growth

Year RangeMilestoneEditorial Impact
2012–2014Founding and first 100 published reviewsEstablished baseline research templates
2015–2017Expansion into skincare and joint health categoriesBroadened ingredient science expertise
2018–2020Introduction of formal medical review layerAdded licensed medical oversight to every review
2021–2023Adoption of structured fake-review filteringImproved customer sentiment accuracy
2024–2026Integration of third-party certification checks and AI-assistance disclosureAligned methodology with modern regulatory and search standards

3. Editorial Values and Guiding Principles

Every review published on Daily Health Supplement is guided by a small number of non-negotiable values that inform every decision our team makes, from which products we select to how we phrase a single sentence about a side effect.

  • Evidence over assertion. A claim is only as strong as the evidence supporting it, regardless of how confidently a manufacturer states it.
  • Reader protection over reader convenience. We will always include a necessary safety warning even if it makes an article longer or less “clean” from a marketing perspective.
  • Consistency over convenience. The same standard applied to a well-known national brand is applied to a small, newly launched company; size and marketing budget do not earn a pass on scrutiny.
  • Correction over pride. When we get something wrong, we correct it visibly rather than quietly editing the page and hoping no one notices.
  • Independence over relationship. No advertising or affiliate relationship changes how critically we evaluate a product's ingredients, safety profile, or customer feedback.

4. Disclosure and Transparency

Daily Health Supplement generates revenue through affiliate marketing and advertisements displayed throughout our website. We clearly disclose which products we review and how we earn money. Our disclosure practices follow the FTC's Endorsement Guides, updated in 2023 to address modern advertising formats including influencer content, incentivized reviews, and fake review manipulation. Under these guides, disclosures must be “clear and conspicuous,” meaning a platform's built-in disclosure tool alone may not be adequate, and we take this standard seriously across every placement on our site, not only where legally minimum-required.

Importantly, affiliate commissions never influence a product's rating. A brand paying a higher commission receives no editorial advantage over one paying less or nothing at all, and our writers are evaluated on accuracy and thoroughness, not affiliate revenue generated. For more details, please refer to our About Us and Advertising Disclosure pages, both of which are reviewed periodically to reflect current partnerships and evolving regulatory expectations.

4.1 Disclosure Placement Standards

Content TypeDisclosure RequirementPlacement
Standard product reviewAffiliate relationship disclosureAbove the fold, before first buy link
Sponsored article“Sponsored” or “Paid Partnership” labelTop of article, before headline scroll
Comparison tableAffiliate noteDirectly above or below table
Social media postHashtag or in-caption disclosureVisible without expanding caption
Email newsletterDisclosure lineNear top of email body

5. Goals of Daily Health Supplement Reviews

Our reviews aim to educate our readers about:

  • New and existing programs and products related to weight loss, skincare, anti-aging, testosterone enhancement, joint health, cognitive support, and overall well-being.
  • Product features, including ingredients, quality, potential side effects, usage instructions, success stories, company background, and expert collaborations.
  • Comparable products available in the market, so readers understand how a product stacks up against close alternatives on price, formulation, and outcomes.
  • Scientific research supporting each product's claims, evaluated at the dosage actually used in the product rather than dosages studied in unrelated research contexts.
  • Legal actions, scams, product recalls, or regulatory activities relevant to reviewed products, sourced from primary databases including the FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance.
  • Manufacturing transparency, including third-party testing, Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification, and clean-label sourcing, a growing priority for today's more ingredient-conscious consumers.
  • Long-term category trends, such as shifting consumer interest toward personalized nutrition, sustainable sourcing, and functional beverage formats.

6. Detailed Review Process

6.1 Product Details

We meticulously detail product ingredients and labels provided by manufacturers, outlining the source, formulation, and claims associated with each ingredient. This includes cross-checking labeling against the FDA's Dietary Supplement Labeling Guide to confirm compliant, non-misleading presentation. Where a proprietary blend obscures individual ingredient dosages, we note this explicitly as a transparency limitation rather than silently accepting the blend's total weight as sufficient disclosure.

6.2 Ingredient Research

Our research includes thorough investigations into the nature of each ingredient and verifies whether the product delivers on its promises. Sources utilized include the National Library of Medicine, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Google Scholar, Wikipedia, WebMD, the FDA, and Nutrition.gov. We prioritize primary, peer-reviewed sources over secondary summaries whenever possible, since secondary sources can propagate outdated or inaccurate interpretations of the underlying research.

6.3 Potential Side Effects

We focus on identifying potential side effects based on ingredient lists rather than relying solely on company claims of being side-effect-free. Clinical safety data is cross-referenced through resources such as MedlinePlus, ensuring readers on medication or managing pre-existing conditions receive accurate context rather than marketing reassurance.

6.4 Company Evaluation

Information is gathered from independent sources such as social media, forums, official websites, Better Business Bureau filings, and other credible platforms to assess the background of companies and their products. This step frequently surfaces complaint patterns, ownership changes, or regulatory history that a brand's own marketing website would never disclose.

6.5 Customer Experience

User feedback is analyzed to assess the alignment of customer experiences with product claims. Various reviews are examined and reported accordingly, with attention paid to recurring patterns across a large sample rather than isolated outlier opinions in either direction.

6.6 Expert Collaboration

Our articles undergo review by experts in nutrition, dietetics, and fitness to ensure accuracy and reliability, catching overstated claims or missing safety context that a general writer might overlook.

6.7 Success Stories and Samples

We investigate customer success stories, including testimonials and before-and-after photos, checking for plausibility against the ingredient dosages actually present in the formula. Some brands provide sample offers for customers to try before committing to a purchase; where this occurs, we disclose it transparently without letting it influence our published rating.

6.8 Cost and Refunds

Product pricing, cost per serving, and comparisons with similar products are scrutinized so readers can judge true value beyond sticker price. We also ascertain the refund policies of products, including the terms and conditions for returns, flagging hidden auto-renewal clauses, restocking fees, or unusually narrow return windows.

6.9 Third-Party Testing and Certification

Given rising consumer demand for verified quality assurance, we now systematically check whether a product carries independent lab testing certification such as NSF/ANSI 173 Contents Certified or facility-level NSF/ANSI 455-2 GMP certification. Label claims alone no longer satisfy an informed buyer, and we treat verifiable third-party testing as a distinct, weighted factor in our overall assessment.

6.10 Clinical Trial Registry Verification

Where a brand cites “clinical studies” supporting its product, we verify the trial's existence, design, and results through ClinicalTrials.gov, since registered trial data often reveals sample size, blinding methodology, funding source, and actual measured endpoints that a marketing summary conveniently omits or misrepresents.

6.11 Step-by-Step Review Timeline

StepTaskTypical Duration
1Product identification and dossier creation1–2 days
2Ingredient and label research2–4 days
3Company and regulatory background check1–2 days
4Customer feedback collection and filtering2–3 days
5Medical and scientific expert review2–4 days
6Draft writing and internal editorial pass2–3 days
7Final fact-check and publication1 day

7. Ingredient Evidence Grading System

To keep our conclusions consistent across writers and categories, every key ingredient is assigned an evidence grade before it appears in a published review.

GradeEvidence LevelExample Editorial Language
AMultiple human clinical studies at comparable dose“Well-supported by clinical research at this dosage”
BSome human evidence, mixed or smaller studies“Moderately supported, with some inconsistent findings”
CTraditional use or early-stage findings only“Plausible but not clinically proven”
DAnimal or cell-study evidence only“Theoretical support; human evidence is lacking”
ENo relevant evidence for the specific claim“Claim is not currently supported by available research”
FKnown safety concern or regulatory flag“Ingredient carries documented safety concerns”

8. Article Sources and Reference Standards

References include authoritative sources such as the Better Business Bureau, NIH, MedlinePlus, Science.gov, Examine.com, Google Scholar, PubMed, Wikipedia, WebMD, FDA, Healthline, and the FTC. Expert quotes and interviews further enrich the content. We deliberately avoid relying on other review-aggregator or affiliate sites as primary sources, since those sites often recycle unverified claims rather than performing independent research, a distinction increasingly emphasized in Google's guidance on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.

8.1 Source Hierarchy

TierSource TypeExample
Tier 1Government and regulatory bodiesFDA, FTC, NIH, ClinicalTrials.gov
Tier 2Peer-reviewed scientific literaturePubMed, Google Scholar
Tier 3Established medical reference sitesMedlinePlus, WebMD, Healthline
Tier 4Consumer protection platformsBetter Business Bureau
Tier 5General reference (context only, never sole source)Wikipedia

9. Customer Reviews and Community Standards

We encourage readers to leave comments and share their experiences responsibly. Content that violates our guidelines, including profanity, threats, hate speech, or self-promotion, is promptly moderated or removed. We also apply structured detection criteria for manipulated or incentivized reviews, consistent with the FTC's 2023 updated position on procuring, suppressing, boosting, or editing consumer reviews in ways that distort what consumers actually think of a product.

10. Qualities of a Great Review

A valuable review at Daily Health Supplement:

  • Reflects personal experience with the product, including specific usage duration, dosage, and observed effects.
  • Provides relevant, helpful, and accurate information a prospective buyer could realistically use to make a decision.
  • Is well-written, easy to read, and free of grammatical errors that would distract from credibility.
  • Avoids over-dramatization and stays factual, acknowledging that individual results can vary.
  • Discloses any material connection to the brand, such as receiving a free sample, consistent with FTC endorsement disclosure principles.
  • Provides enough specific detail that another reader could reasonably judge whether the reviewer's situation resembles their own.

11. Qualities of a Poor Review

Criteria for a substandard review include:

  • Contains profanity, hate speech, or threats.
  • Plagiarized content or self-promotion for an unrelated business.
  • Irrelevant content unrelated to the product being discussed.
  • Unverifiable or exaggerated claims lacking any supporting detail.
  • Exhibits manipulation signals such as identical wording found across multiple platforms or unnatural posting patterns.
  • Contains private medical details about a third party without consent.

12. Handling Negative Reviews

We accept honest and fact-based negative reviews, since critical feedback is often more useful to prospective buyers than uniformly positive commentary, and we never suppress fair criticism to protect advertiser relationships. We encourage customers to first contact the company to resolve issues before posting negative feedback. Libelous content is strictly prohibited (see: Libel), consistent with standard legal definitions of defamation that protect both companies and our platform from unwarranted harm.

13. Review Assessment Process

Each review and comment undergoes a thorough assessment to ensure compliance with our guidelines. Only genuine, relevant content is published to maintain the integrity of our platform, while flagged submissions are edited where possible or removed entirely when they violate core standards around plagiarism, hate speech, or libel.

14. Regulatory and Legal Monitoring

Beyond individual product reviews, we continuously monitor FTC enforcement actions, FDA warning letters, and product recall databases to catch developments that could change a previously published review's conclusions. When a company faces new legal action or a recall, we update the relevant article promptly rather than allowing outdated safety information to remain live indefinitely.

14.1 Monitoring Sources

SourceWhat We Track
FTC Health Products Compliance GuidanceEnforcement trends and advertising standards
FDA Warning Letters DatabaseCompany-specific compliance actions
FDA Recall DatabaseProduct recalls and safety alerts
Better Business BureauComplaint trends and business ratings
State Attorney General OfficesRegional consumer protection actions

15. Fake Review Detection Standards

As fake review farms and AI-generated testimonials have grown more sophisticated, we apply structured filtering criteria to customer feedback before it informs any published sentiment analysis. This includes identifying identical phrasing across unrelated platforms, newly created accounts with only a single review, embedded affiliate links or coupon codes within a “review,” and other manipulation signals outlined in the FTC's updated Endorsement Guides FAQ. Reviews failing these checks are excluded from our sentiment scoring rather than silently included.

16. Third-Party Testing and Certification Verification

We treat independent, third-party verification as materially different from a brand's self-reported quality claims. Where available, we reference NSF International's dietary supplement certification programs to confirm whether a product or facility has been independently audited, rather than accepting “lab tested” language at face value.

17. Manufacturing and Facility Standards

We distinguish clearly between a manufacturer merely operating in a facility that is “FDA-registered” and a facility that has undergone independent GMP certification audits. Registration is a basic administrative requirement, while certification involves an active third-party audit process, and our reviews specify which standard a company actually meets rather than blending the two together loosely.

18. Pricing, Refunds, and Value Transparency

Pricing FactorWhat We Verify
Cost per bottleListed price at checkout, including any hidden fees
Cost per servingTotal servings divided into total price
Subscription termsAuto-renewal frequency and cancellation process
Refund windowNumber of days and whether opened bottles qualify
Return shippingWho bears the cost of return shipping
Bundle discountsReal savings versus inflated “original price” anchoring

19. AI-Assisted Research Disclosure

In the interest of full transparency, we disclose that certain research assistance or drafting support within our editorial workflow may involve AI-based tools. However, all medical claims, safety information, and ingredient assessments are reviewed and approved by named human experts before publication, ensuring no AI-generated content reaches readers without qualified human verification.

20. Accessibility and Reader Education

We recognize that not every reader arrives with the same baseline health literacy, so our content is structured to explain scientific terminology, dosage units, and ingredient names in plain language without oversimplifying to the point of inaccuracy. Glossary-style explanations, comparison tables, and FAQ sections are included throughout our reviews to make complex supplement science approachable for both first-time buyers and experienced supplement users.

21. Editorial Corrections and Update Policy

Error SeverityExampleCorrection Timeline
CriticalWrong dosage, wrong ingredient, wrong safety warningImmediate
ModeratePricing or availability changeWithin 7 days
MinorGrammar, formatting, image captionNext scheduled maintenance pass

22. Frequently Asked Questions About Our Process

Does a brand ever pay for a positive review?
No. Affiliate commissions are earned only when a reader makes a purchase through our link, and the commission amount has no bearing on the rating assigned.

Do you test every product physically?
Not always. Products are classified by review type (hands-on, research-based, or customer-review-based) depending on available access and evidence, and this classification is disclosed within the article.

How often are old reviews updated?
High-interest or high-risk product reviews are revisited every 60 to 90 days; standard reviews are revisited at least annually or immediately upon a major factual change.

23. Our Commitment

Daily Health Supplement is committed to continual improvement and learning from feedback. While striving for accuracy, we value your input to enhance our content and services, and we revisit older articles whenever new research, product reformulations, or regulatory changes warrant an update.

24. Providing Feedback

Your feedback is invaluable to us. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions regarding our content or believe an article needs updating, please reach out to us via our Contact Us page. Substantive corrections identified through this process are incorporated directly into the live article with a visible update note.

25. Contact Information

  • Email: [email protected]
  • Address: 65 Main Street, New York, NY 10009, USA/Canada
  • Toll Free: 1 (866) 121-2589

26. Category-Specific Fact-Checking Considerations

Different supplement categories carry different risk profiles, and our fact-checking process adapts accordingly rather than applying an identical checklist regardless of context.

26.1 Weight Management Supplements

ConsiderationWhy It MattersOur Verification Step
Stimulant contentHigh doses of caffeine or synephrine can affect heart rate and blood pressureCross-check total stimulant load across all listed sources
“No diet or exercise” claimsFrequently unsupported and misleadingFlag as high-risk marketing language
Before-and-after photographyOften unverifiable or digitally alteredInvestigate image origin and consistency with claimed timeline
Appetite suppression claimsRequires specific ingredient evidenceGrade against ingredient evidence tier system

26.2 Testosterone and Libido Supplements

ConsiderationWhy It MattersOur Verification Step
Hormonal claimsCan imply medical treatment of a diagnosable conditionSeparate lawful structure/function language from implied medical claims
Cardiovascular interactionsStimulant and vasodilator ingredients may affect blood pressureCross-reference ingredient safety data
Erectile dysfunction implicationsHigh-risk claim category under FTC and FDA guidanceFlag explicitly as requiring medical consultation

26.3 Joint and Mobility Supplements

ConsiderationWhy It MattersOur Verification Step
Glucosamine and chondroitin sourcingShellfish-derived ingredients pose allergen riskVerify allergen disclosure on label
Anti-inflammatory claimsOften conflated with drug-like disease claimsCheck claim language against FDA structure/function standards
Dosage compared to studied rangesMany joint formulas underdose key activesApply dosage alignment scoring

26.4 Cognitive and Brain Health Supplements

ConsiderationWhy It MattersOur Verification Step
Nootropic stackingCombining multiple stimulatory ingredients can compound effectsTotal stimulant and nootropic load review
Memory and focus claimsFrequently overstate available evidenceIngredient evidence grading applied strictly
Long-term safety dataOften limited for newer nootropic compoundsFlag data gaps explicitly in review

27. Internal Quality Control and Peer Review

Before any review reaches publication, it passes through an internal peer review layer distinct from the original research and writing team. This second set of eyes exists specifically to catch errors, inconsistent claims, or missing safety context that the original researcher, having spent significant time immersed in one product, might overlook.

  • A peer reviewer with no prior involvement in the specific product reads the full draft against the completed research dossier.
  • Any claim not directly traceable to a cited source is flagged and either substantiated or removed before publication.
  • Safety-related sections receive a mandatory secondary check by a member of our medical review team, independent of the primary medical reviewer.
  • SEO elements, including headings, meta descriptions, and structured data, are checked separately to confirm they do not overstate or misrepresent the article's actual content.

28. Version Control and Editorial Audit Trail

Every published review maintains an internal audit trail documenting who researched it, who wrote it, who conducted the medical review, and when each update occurred. This internal record allows us to trace any factual question back to its original source material, and it supports our broader transparency commitment by ensuring that if a reader or regulator questions a specific claim, we can identify exactly where that claim originated and whether it has since been revised.

Audit FieldPurpose
Original publish dateEstablishes baseline accuracy timestamp
Last substantive update dateSignals currency of safety and pricing information
Reviewing medical expertAccountability for safety-related claims
Update reason codeDistinguishes routine maintenance from safety-driven revision
Source dossier referenceLinks published claims back to internal research file

29. Handling Conflicting Evidence

Ingredient research does not always produce a clean, unanimous conclusion. When credible studies disagree about an ingredient's effectiveness or safety profile, our policy is to present that disagreement transparently rather than selectively citing only the studies that support a more favorable or more critical conclusion.

  • We identify the general direction of the overall body of evidence rather than cherry-picking a single favorable or unfavorable study.
  • We note sample size, population characteristics, and funding source when they materially affect how much weight a given study should carry.
  • We explicitly tell readers when evidence is genuinely mixed, rather than forcing a false sense of certainty in either direction.
  • We avoid describing a single small study as definitive proof of either safety or efficacy.

30. Ingredient Interaction Review Protocol

Beyond evaluating ingredients individually, our team examines how ingredients within the same formula might interact with one another, since a product's overall safety and efficacy profile is not simply the sum of its individual ingredient profiles.

Interaction TypeExampleReview Action
Stimulant stackingCaffeine plus synephrine plus green tea extractCalculate cumulative stimulant load
Mineral competitionHigh-dose calcium alongside iron or zincNote potential absorption interference
Sedative stackingMelatonin plus valerian plus L-theanineFlag combined sedative effect and driving caution
Blood-thinning botanicalsGinkgo biloba combined with fish oilFlag bleeding risk, especially pre-surgery

31. Reviewer Qualification Standards

Not every article on our site requires the same level of reviewer credentialing, but health-sensitive content always requires appropriate qualification before publication.

Content TypeMinimum Required Reviewer Qualification
Basic wellness or lifestyle articleExperienced health content writer
Ingredient-focused supplement reviewWriter plus research-team ingredient verification
Medical-adjacent claims (hormonal, cardiovascular, psychiatric)Mandatory licensed medical reviewer sign-off
Safety warning sectionsMandatory medical reviewer sign-off regardless of article type
Comparative “versus” articlesSenior editor review for balance and fairness

32. Glossary of Key Terms Used in Our Reviews

To support reader comprehension, we maintain consistent definitions for terminology used across our review library.

  • Structure/function claim: A statement describing how an ingredient may support normal body function, without claiming to treat or cure a disease.
  • Proprietary blend: A mixture of ingredients where the total blend weight is disclosed but individual ingredient amounts are not.
  • GMP certification: Independent verification that a manufacturing facility follows Good Manufacturing Practices required for consistent product quality.
  • Certificate of Analysis (COA): A document from an independent lab confirming a product's actual contents match its label.
  • Verified purchase review: A customer review confirmed to be linked to an actual transaction, carrying higher credibility weight in our analysis.

33. Reader Rights and Expectations

Readers of Daily Health Supplement can reasonably expect the following from every piece of content we publish:

  • Clear disclosure of any financial relationship connected to a reviewed product.
  • Explicit acknowledgment when evidence is limited, mixed, or preliminary rather than a false sense of confidence.
  • A visible path to report a factual error or request an update.
  • Safety information presented with the same prominence as positive product attributes, never buried beneath marketing language.
  • Regular updates to reflect new research, reformulations, or regulatory developments.

References & Editorial Standards

Our editorial methodology is informed by guidance and resources from the following organizations:

These sources form the backbone of our fact-checking, editorial, and disclosure practices, and we encourage readers to consult them directly for the most current regulatory and scientific guidance.