Comparison of Centrum Ultra Women's Vs. Centrum Silver Ultra Women's

Centrum offers a variety of vitamin products, each designed for a certain market. Its Silver line targets older customers with their needs and desires. Different vitamin products are tailored to men and women. Both of these Centrum offerings target women with one looking for older women. The product differences highlight Centrum's ideas about the needs of each group.

Features

• Each product lists four features that represents the key ingredients in each product. Each product has a heading entitled "Women's Health." The wording is practically identical with the exception that the Silver product states it is meant to meet the needs of women 50+ while the ultra states it meets the needs of women. The second feature, entitled "Immunity" contains the exact language for both products, highlighting antioxidants that support the immune system. A third feature called "Energy" again contains identical language about B vitamins providing energy. The final feature differs for each product. The Silver, entitled "Eye Health" promotes vitamins A,C and E along with lutein. Ultra's feature named "Healthy Skin, Hair & Nails," discusses Vitamins A,C and E along with biotin and beta-carotene.

Functions

• The function of the Silver vitamins are to appeal to women 50 years of age and older, hence the feature about eye health, a concern of older individuals. The Ultra's feature appeals to younger women with its emphasis on skin, hair and nails.

Warnings

• Each product contains the exact two warnings. One relates to ingestion of the product by children under the age of 6. Since both contain iron, a young child could be fatally poisoned by taking either vitamin. The other warning details Vitamin A usage. Both Silver and Ultra contain the vitamin which is harmful in large dosages. The label recommends not taking either vitamin if taking another Vitamin A product.

The Facts

• When comparing individual components both contain 3,500 IU of Vitamin A, but the Silver's is 43 percent beta-carotene while ultra is 29 percent beta-carotene. For Vitamin C Silver has 100 mg while Ultra has 75 mg. Both have the same levels of Vitamins D and E. One significant difference lies in the amount of Vitamin B12. While the Ultra has 6 micrograms (mcg), the Silver contains 50 mcg, over 8 times as much. Iron represents another component that differs with Ultra having 18 mg while Silver has 8 mg.