What about the safety of excipients magnesium stearate and stearic acid?
Theres a lot of seemingly icky information out there about magnesium stearate and stearic acid, and sadly, most of it is downright misleading. Most of this information comes from one misinterpreted study done in 1990. The study analyzed using very large amounts of stearic acid as a potential substitute for more harmful drug used in grafting surgeries to prevent rejection. Stearic acid while scary sounding is nothing more than a naturally-occurring fatty acid found in foods such as animal fats/oils and vegetable oils. Magnesium stearate is the salt of stearic acid. Theyre both used in relatively small amounts as a lubricant in nutritional supplement manufacturing to prevent materials from sticking to machinery. The FDA considers stearic acid and magnesium stearate GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) for food use in accordance with accepted GMP practices. Thus, the toxicity at these levels is extremely low and likely non-existent.
