I thought Codex screwed up.
By John Aspinall ✱ · July 2, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
I thought Codex screwed up.
Turns out - I was the one who was wrong.
⤷ Sort of.
I was testing one of my image generation skills on a random berberine listing.
The bottle says:
1500 mg Berberine.
Codex generated an infographic that said:
500 mg Berberine.
So I called it out.
Then Codex pointed me to the Supplement Facts panel.
→ It was right.
Each capsule contains 500 mg.
The serving directions say to take 1 capsule, 2 to 3 times per day.
So the brand gets to advertise 1500 mg because you'll reach that amount if you take three capsules.
Here's where I got stuck.
If I buy something labeled "1500 mg Berberine," my first assumption is each capsule contains 1500 mg. Not 500 mg.
And the directions don't even say three capsules.
⤷ They say 1 capsule, 2 to 3 times daily.
So if someone takes two capsules? They're getting 1,000 mg.
Not 1,500 mg.
Maybe this is completely standard in the supplement industry.
Maybe I'm missing something.
Or maybe this is one of those things everyone accepts even though it feels misleading.
Anyone in supplements, help me out.
→ Is this normal?