L-carnitine in food supplements
571 supplements declared in France contain L-carnitine as a substance or active ingredient.
Declarations also use the name: Carnitine. Separate page, as the form (L or D) is not always stated.
Other names in the Compl'Alim list: carnitine.
Compl'Alim declarations. Compl'Alim, food supplement declarations (France), retrieved 23 October 2026.
Maximum dose in France
Carnitine: La quantité présente dans la portion journalière recommandée ne doit pas dépasser 2 000 mg. Toutes les formes d'apport contiennent une carnitine de haute pureté chimique (99 % de l'énantiomère L).
Order of 26 September 2016, Annex I. French orders of 9 May 2006 (nutrients), 24 June 2014 (plants) and 26 September 2016 (other substances), consolidated LEGI collection, retrieved 23 October 2026.
What we know about this ingredient
Uses
Used therapeutically for myocardial injury after ischemia and reperfusion by counteracting the toxic effect of high levels of free fatty acids, which occur in ischemia, and by improving carbohydrate metabolism
Used to treat carnitine deficiency
Calculated removal (%): 92.1
Consumption (g per capita; approx.) in Germany (2009): 0.0122
Excretion rate: 0.09
Use (kg; approx.) in Germany (2009): >1000
Use classification
Cosmetics -> Foam boosting; Cleansing
A molecule found naturally in plants or organisms; in a supplement it may be extracted from them, made by fermentation or synthesised: the declaration does not say which.
Basis: one CosIngThe European Commission's database of cosmetic ingredients. CAS and natural occurrence recorded in Wikidata (LOTUS database).
Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.
Natural occurrence recorded in Wikidata (LOTUS database): 11 taxa; examples: Panax ginseng, Hordeum vulgare, Phaseolus vulgaris, Trametes versicolor, Amanita muscaria.
Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.
Manufacturing
Enantioselective synthesis from glycerol
Appearance
White, crystalline, hygroscopic powder
Associated research
ClinicalTrials.gov · A trial is not proof: it tests a hypothesis.
- NCT06845046 : A Study to Improve Skeletal Muscle in Veterans With HIV
RECRUITING · NA · HIV, Obesity · 2026-06-26 · L-carnitine
- NCT04908397 : Carnitine Consumption and Augmentation in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
COMPLETED · PHASE1 · Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Familial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, Lung Diseases, Carnitine Nutritional Deficiency · 2025-09-30 · L-carnitine; L-carnitine (synonym declared in the registry)
- NCT05602194 : Studying the Effect of Levocarnitine in Protecting the Liver From Chemotherapy for Leukemia or Lymphoma
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · PHASE3 · B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia With t(9;22)(q34.1;q11.2); BCR-ABL1, B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, BCR-ABL1-Like, Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukemia, T Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia · 2026-08-21 · Levocarnitine (synonym declared in the registry)
Searched on 1 November 2026.
Other names: L-Carnitin (German), L-carnitina (Spanish), L-carnitina (Italian), L-carnitina (Portuguese).
Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.
Same substance in cosmetics: CARNITINE.
In plain words
À quoi il sert, selon les fabricants
Objectifs les plus souvent annoncés pour les compléments qui en contiennent (L-carnitine) : sport (203 produits), minceur / brûleur (130 produits), gestion du poids / minceur (63 produits), minceur / ventre plat (36 produits), minceur / modérateur d'appétit (32 produits).
Ce sont les objectifs déclarés par les fabricants à l'administration, pas des effets démontrés. Sur l'emballage, seules les allégations de santé autorisées par l'Union peuvent être écrites.
Compl'Alim, food supplement declarations (France), retrieved 23 October 2026.
What the registers say, country by country
Each line repeats what an official register says on the date it was consulted. Not being in a register means neither allowed nor banned.
Health claims register (European Union): 0 authorised and 12 refused claim(s) for this substance.
EU Register of nutrition and health claims, retrieved 21 October 2026.
Compl'Alim ingredient list (France): listed.
Compl'Alim, reference list of ingredients, retrieved 21 October 2026.
Canada, licensed natural health products (LNHPD): 774 products.
Licensed Natural Health Products Database (LNHPD), Health Canada: licensed products, ingredients, doses, uses and risks, retrieved 27 October 2026.
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Health Canada, LNHPD)
Licence du gouvernement ouvert – Canada 2.0 (OGL-Canada 2.0)
United States, supplement labels (DSLD; supplements need no prior approval): 1256 products.
Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD), US National Institutes of Health: current and off-market labels, retrieved 27 October 2026.
Source: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Dietary Supplement Label Database (CC0); US market labels.
Malaysia, registered products: 8 products.
NPRA, Malaysian pharmaceutical products register, retrieved 27 October 2026.
Ministry of Health Malaysia / NPRA, Pharmaceutical Products, CC BY 4.0
Poland, notified supplements: 4 products.
GIS, products notified in Poland, retrieved 27 October 2026.
Główny Inspektorat Sanitarny (GIS), Rejestr produktów objętych powiadomieniem
Taiwan, registered products: 143 products.
TFDA, Taiwan tablets, capsules and medical nutrition registers, retrieved 27 October 2026.
Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), Open Government Data License, version 1.0
United States, supplements listed by the USDA: 28 products.
USDA FoodData Central Branded, supplement cohort, retrieved 29 October 2026.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, Branded Foods. Data published under CC0 1.0 Universal, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.
Official warnings (Health Canada)
L-CARNITINE
Route of administration: Oral
Cautions and warnings
Ask a health care practitioner/health care provider/health care professional/doctor/physician before use if you are pregnant or breastfeeding (CPS 2008).
1 study cited in the text has no matching reference in the monograph (see the anomalies listed on the sources page).
Ask a health care practitioner/health care provider/health care professional/doctor/physician before use if you have a seizure disorder (CPS 2008).
1 study cited in the text has no matching reference in the monograph (see the anomalies listed on the sources page).
Texts from the monograph of Health Canada, the Canadian authority, reproduced without modification. They do not replace medical advice.
Products
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