Brand review · USA (mainland)
NOW Foods — Spirulina (tablets and powder)
NOW Foods is a large US supplement company that has sold spirulina since the early 1980s — among the first wave of spirulina retail in America. They source spirulina from multiple suppliers (including historically from Earthrise) and maintain GMP-certified manufacturing facilities. Their products are a US pharmacy and health-food store staple, known for competitive pricing rather than specialist documentation.
Strengths
- ✓Extremely widely available across US drug stores, supermarkets, and Amazon
- ✓Very competitive pricing — among the most affordable US-sourced spirulina
- ✓NOW's own GMP-certified manufacturing adds process-level quality control
- ✓Large company with established quality assurance infrastructure
- ✓NSF GMP registered facilities
Weaknesses
- –Not a producer — sources from third-party suppliers; provenance less specific than brands above
- –Phycocyanin percentage not disclosed
- –Positioned as commodity supplement rather than premium spirulina
- –CoA published at product level, not batch level
Our verdict
The default budget option in American retail. Perfectly fine for someone starting with spirulina who doesn't want to invest in premium before knowing they'll stick with it. The GMP certification gives process assurance; the lack of phycocyanin disclosure and batch-level CoA means you're buying on brand reputation rather than specific quality data. Upgrade to a producer brand once you're committed.
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