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"Behind the score" posts exist because supplements change and scores should change with them. Most of the time a re-score is a small correction — a serving size update, a label reformat, a minor price shift. Occasionally it's something more substantive. The HK Vitals Iron + Folic Acid capsule is the latter.
Between the 24th of March and the 7th of April 2026, HealthKart quietly reformulated the iron compound in this product. The label elemental iron figure stayed the same. The serving size stayed the same. The price stayed the same. What changed was the salt — from ferrous bisglycinate chelate to ferrous sulphate — and that single substitution, invisible to a reader comparing two bottles on a pharmacy shelf, is clinically meaningful enough to drop the score by 1.4 points.
The original 7.5
Our initial review of HK Vitals Iron + Folic Acid (60 capsules, ₹249 MRP) was published in January 2026. At the time, the product used ferrous bisglycinate chelate at 27mg elemental iron per capsule, paired with 400mcg folic acid. The bisglycinate form scored well on our ingredient form dimension: it is a chelated compound with substantially better bioavailability than sulphate forms, and significantly lower rates of GI adverse effects — constipation and nausea being the most commonly reported issues with iron supplementation in Indian women. 1
The folic acid dose was appropriate for general supplementation (the ICMR recommended intake for non-pregnant adults is 200mcg, with 400–800mcg for women planning pregnancy). 2 Label honesty was reasonable — the bisglycinate form was named on the label, the elemental iron amount was clearly stated, and the FSSAI licence number was present. The original score:
Score dropped on two dimensions only
Ingredient form: 8.5 → 4.0. Label honesty: 7.5 → 4.0. Dose, purity, and value are unchanged. The entire drop is attributable to a single formulation decision and the brand's choice not to disclose it.
What changed
The April batch of HK Vitals Iron + Folic Acid lists the iron compound as "Ferrous Sulphate (providing 27mg elemental iron)" in the ingredient declaration. The January batch listed "Ferrous Bisglycinate Chelate (providing 27mg elemental iron)". The elemental iron number is identical. The compound delivering it is not.
| Property | Ferrous bisglycinate chelate | Ferrous sulphate |
|---|---|---|
| Relative bioavailability | 2–4× higher than sulphate 3 | Reference standard (1×) |
| GI adverse effects | Low — chelate form bypasses free-iron GI irritation | High — constipation in 15–30% of users at therapeutic doses 4 |
| Food interaction | Can be taken with food — absorption less affected | Significantly inhibited by phytates (dal, roti, rice) and calcium |
| Cost to manufacturer | 3–5× more expensive per kg of elemental iron delivered | Commodity pricing — lowest cost iron salt |
| RCT evidence in Indian women | Suresh et al. 2012 — equivalent serum ferritin with better tolerance 5 | Extensive global data — standard of care benchmark |
Why the form matters for the Indian context specifically
India has a specific absorption problem that makes iron form more important here than in most Western populations. The dominant Indian dietary pattern — lentils, whole wheat roti, rice — is high in phytates, oxalates, and polyphenols, all of which competitively inhibit non-haem iron absorption. A meta-analysis of iron bioavailability in South Asian dietary contexts found that phytate intake in the Indian population can reduce non-haem iron absorption by 50–75%. 6
"The same elemental iron dose produces a meaningfully different clinical outcome depending on the salt — and the Indian diet makes that gap wider, not smaller."
Ferrous sulphate's absorption is substantially inhibited by this dietary pattern. Ferrous bisglycinate chelate, bound to glycine amino acids, is absorbed through a peptide transport pathway that partially bypasses competitive phytate inhibition. For a product specifically marketed to Indian women — the label copy references "hair, skin, and energy" in a segment with documented high anaemia prevalence — the form choice is not a minor technical detail. It is the difference between a product that will likely raise serum ferritin in a typical Indian dietary context and one that may or may not, depending on what the user ate two hours before.
How we caught it — and nearly didn't
Our re-test triggers are batch-based. When Amazon's listing for a reviewed product shows a new batch number or a new manufacturer date, it flags for label comparison. In this case, a reader in Pune purchased a unit from a physical pharmacy and noticed the ingredient list read differently. They emailed us the photograph on April 4th. Without that reader email, our batch trigger would have caught this on our scheduled quarterly re-test — but not until June.
Batch Mar-25. Ferrous bisglycinate chelate confirmed on label. FSSAI licence present.
Batch code change visible on Amazon listing. Our trigger flagged it — but ingredient comparison was queued, not immediate.
Pune reader emails label photograph. Ingredient list now reads "Ferrous Sulphate." No announcement from HealthKart.
Two units purchased independently (Amazon and a Bengaluru pharmacy). Both confirm ferrous sulphate. Score updated same day.
HealthKart has not responded to our request for comment sent on April 7th.
The near-miss is worth naming directly. Our batch trigger caught the batch change but queued it rather than escalating it immediately. The queue logic assumes that a batch change is most likely a manufacturing date rollover, not a formulation change — which is true in aggregate but wrong in this case. We are adjusting the trigger to escalate ingredient-list changes as high-priority regardless of whether other label elements changed. That adjustment goes live in May.
What our re-test system currently does
We monitor batch codes on Amazon listings for all reviewed products. When a new batch appears, the product joins a comparison queue. Priority is currently assigned by time since last review and score tier — products scoring below 6.0 are re-checked more frequently than high-scorers. The HK Vitals iron product was not in the high-priority tier at the time of the formulation change. It is now.
The new 6.1 — dimension by dimension
Ingredient form: 8.5 → 4.0
This is the primary driver. Ferrous sulphate is not a bad iron supplement — it is the global reference standard, used in clinical trials, prescribed by physicians, and effective when taken correctly. Our scoring, however, is calibrated for the Indian consumer context: someone buying this product from Amazon or a pharmacy, likely with food (given the product's positioning around daily use), in a dietary pattern high in absorption inhibitors. In that context, ferrous bisglycinate chelate is materially superior. The form downgrade is a genuine efficacy reduction, not a theoretical one.
Label honesty: 7.5 → 4.0
The label correctly names the new compound — "ferrous sulphate" is there in the ingredient list if you read carefully. What drops the score is the absence of any disclosure that the product changed. The front-of-pack copy is unchanged. The product name is unchanged. The price is unchanged. A consumer who reviewed this product in January 2026, decided it was worth buying based on the bisglycinate form, and set up a subscription or auto-refill, is now receiving a different product without knowing it. That is a label honesty failure regardless of technical compliance. The compound is named; the change is not.
Dose, purity, value: unchanged
27mg elemental iron is within the clinically studied range for supplementation (the WHO recommended daily allowance for pre-menopausal women in high-phytate diets is 29.4–58.8mg per day depending on bioavailability assumptions). 7 The dose score holds. Purity evidence has not changed — no new COA, but no new contamination concern either. At ₹249 for 60 capsules, value-per-unit is reasonable for an iron supplement; the form downgrade doesn't change the unit economics, only the clinical yield.
What to do if you're currently taking this product
Ferrous sulphate at 27mg elemental iron is not harmful. If you have been taking HK Vitals Iron and your ferritin is rising appropriately (the most reliable indicator is a serum ferritin test at 8–12 weeks of supplementation), there is no urgent reason to switch. The question is whether your specific dietary pattern and GI tolerance allow ferrous sulphate to work.
Practical guidance
If you are taking this with food (as most people do), on a predominantly plant-based diet, or have previously experienced constipation or nausea from iron supplements — switch to a ferrous bisglycinate product. Himalayan Organics Iron Bisglycinate (score: 7.9) and Carbamide Forte Iron Bisglycinate (score: 7.6) are the two products currently scoring highest in this category on our rubric. Both are available on Amazon.in within a similar price range. If you are consuming this product on an empty stomach and your diet includes haem iron sources (chicken, fish, meat), ferrous sulphate at this dose may still be adequate — but the evidence favours the chelate form regardless.
We have updated the HK Vitals Iron product page with the new score, the batch boundary (pre-March 24 batches contain bisglycinate; post-March 24 batches contain sulphate), and a note explaining the change. HealthKart has not, as of publication, issued any statement about the reformulation.
References
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[1]
Hurrell R. & Egli I. (2010). Iron bioavailability and dietary reference values. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91(5), 1461S–1467S. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2010.28674F
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[2]
ICMR (2020). Nutrient Requirements for Indians — Recommended Dietary Allowances and Estimated Average Requirements. Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. Chapter 5: Vitamins and Minerals.
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[3]
Olivares M. et al. (2004). Bioavailability of iron in milk formula as ferrous bisglycinate chelate is higher than as ferrous sulphate in normal non-anaemic women. Nutrition, 20(2), 177–180. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2003.10.003
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[4]
Tolkien Z.J. et al. (2015). Ferrous sulfate supplementation causes significant gastrointestinal side-effects in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 10(2). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117383
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[5]
Suresh S. et al. (2012). Iron bisglycinate chelate and polymaltose iron for the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy — a randomised clinical trial. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 66, 1373–1378. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2012.140
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[6]
Thankachan P. et al. (2008). Iron absorption in young Indian women: the interaction of iron status with the influence of tea and ascorbic acid. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87(4), 881–886. doi:10.1093/ajcn/87.4.881
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[7]
WHO (2004). Vitamin and Mineral Requirements in Human Nutrition, 2nd ed. Chapter 13: Iron. World Health Organization, Geneva.
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