What is a proprietary blend, and why does it matter?

A proprietary blend is a group of ingredients listed on a Supplement Facts panel under one combined weight, without the amount of each ingredient. FDA labeling rules allow it, as long as the blend's total weight is shown and its ingredients are listed from most to least by weight. The catch is that you can't tell how much of any one ingredient you're getting. Sí Quema doesn't use one: all 9 ingredients are listed with their exact doses.

Key takeaways

• A proprietary blend shows a total weight and an ingredient order, but not individual amounts for most ingredients.
• In a review of 100 top-selling pre-workouts, 58 used at least one proprietary blend.
• Without doses, you can't compare a product to the amounts used in research.
• Sí Quema lists every dose: 9 ingredients, 3,315 mg per scoop, no blends.

What is a proprietary blend?

It's a labeled group of ingredients where the label gives one total weight for the whole group.

Under federal rules, a blend must be identified by the term "Proprietary Blend" or another descriptive or fanciful name. That means a blend can carry any name, like "Energy Matrix" or "Focus Complex." The name tells you nothing about doses. The structure underneath is what counts.

A typical blend line looks like this on a label:

Performance Blend 2,500 mg: Ingredient A, Ingredient B, Ingredient C, Ingredient D

You know the four ingredients add up to 2,500 mg and that A is the heaviest. You don't know if A is 2,400 mg and the other three split 100 mg, or if all four are close to equal.

What does the FDA require on the label?

The FDA requires the blend's total weight and its ingredients in descending order by weight, but it does not require individual amounts for most of them.

The rule is in 21 CFR 101.36(c).

• Ingredients with a Daily Value, like vitamins and minerals, must still be listed separately with their amounts, even inside a blend.
• Ingredients without a Daily Value, which FDA calls "other dietary ingredients," can sit inside a blend with no individual weight. They just have to be listed in descending order of predominance by weight.
• The blend's weight must be the total weight of all the other dietary ingredients in it.

That second point is the big one for pre-workouts. The FDA's list of nutrients with Daily Values covers vitamins, minerals and macronutrients. Caffeine, L-theanine, L-tyrosine and carnitine aren't on it, so all of them can legally be tucked into a blend.

Why does a proprietary blend hide doses?

Because the label only has to show the total, a blend lets a brand list an ingredient without saying how much is in there.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements puts it plainly: with proprietary blends, the ingredients are listed in order by weight, but labels do not provide the amount of each ingredient in the blend. It also notes that consumers can't know or predict the effects and safety of combinations in multi-ingredient products.

That causes three practical problems:

1. You can't compare to research. If a study used a specific amount of an ingredient, you can't tell if a blend comes close.
2. You can't manage stimulants. If a stimulant sits inside a blend, you can't count it toward your daily total with any precision.
3. You can't compare products. Two tubs with the same ingredient list can have very different doses.

How common are proprietary blends in pre-workouts?

Very common. More than half of top-selling pre-workouts use at least one.

A 2019 review of the 100 best-selling pre-workout supplements found that 58 included at least one proprietary blend, and that 44.3% of all ingredients across those products were inside a blend with undisclosed amounts.

How do you read a Supplement Facts panel?

Start with the serving size, then check that every ingredient has its own amount, then read the "Other ingredients" line underneath.

1. Serving size and servings per container. Every amount on the panel is per serving. Sí Quema's serving is 1 scoop (4.5 g), 30 per tub.
2. Amount per serving. Look for a number next to each ingredient. If you see one number next to a group name, that's a blend.
3. % Daily Value. Ingredients without an established Daily Value are marked with a symbol that points to a "Daily Value not established" footnote. That's normal for most pre-workout ingredients.
4. Other ingredients. Flavors, sweeteners, colors and fillers go in a separate list immediately below the panel, in descending order by weight.
5. Warnings and directions. Check caffeine content and age limits.

Does Sí Quema use a proprietary blend?

No. Every one of Sí Quema's 9 ingredients is listed with its exact dose, totaling 3,315 mg per scoop.

• Caffeine Anhydrous: 200 mg
• N-Acetyl L-Carnitine HCl: 1 g
• L-Carnitine L-Tartrate: 1 g
• L-Tyrosine: 500 mg
• L-Theanine: 350 mg
• Capsimax® Capsicum annuum (fruit) extract: 100 mg
• Gamma-Butyrobetaine HCl: 75 mg
• AstraGin®: 50 mg
• Grains of Paradise (Aframomum melegueta) extract: 40 mg

Other ingredients: natural and artificial flavors, citric acid, malic acid, silicon dioxide, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, beta carotene (color). You can read what each ingredient is, with sources, on our ingredients page.

200 mg caffeine per serving · 18+

If you want to see every dose before you buy, the full label is on each flavor in the Sí Quema pre-workout collection.

Sources

• Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR 101.36, Nutrition labeling of dietary supplements (via Cornell Legal Information Institute).
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dietary Supplement Labeling Guide: Chapter IV, Nutrition Labeling.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dietary Supplement Labeling Guide: Chapter V, Ingredient Labeling.
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance.
• Jagim AR, Harty PS, Camic CL. Common Ingredient Profiles of Multi-Ingredient Pre-Workout Supplements. Nutrients, 2019.