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If your supplement contains iron, the number of capsules in the bottle is part of the compliance calculation.

What this covers

Herbal, mineral, probiotic and vitamin capsules, softgels and tablets. Six leaves, one archetype, and the archetype gets it right: packer bottle, induction seal, desiccant and cotton.

The rule that reaches this format

A dietary supplement containing the equivalent of 250 mg or more of elemental iron from any source in a single package, at 0.05 percent or more weight-to-weight for a solid, needs child-resistant packaging meeting 16 CFR 1700.15.

Two tests, and both have to be met

A mass per package and a concentration. Missing either one takes you out of the requirement, which is why the calculation has to be done properly rather than estimated from the dose on the label.

The mass test is the surprising one

An 18 mg iron dose is ordinary. Sixty capsules of it is 1,080 mg in the package, more than four times the threshold. Even a 14-capsule sample pack is 252 mg, which is over.

So the bottle count is a regulatory decision

Offering a 180-count for better value, or a small trial size, changes the mass in a single package. That is a merchandising choice with a packaging consequence, and it is the specific thing that gets missed.

And our shelf has a gap you should know about

The derived shelf for this format is 157 containers and 211 closures, and none of the 211 is child-resistant. The containers section gives the measured position and what to do about it.

What this property does not cover

The Supplement Facts panel, the structure and function disclaimer, the notification requirement and cGMP are covered in the written sites on Supplements and on Powders. This one is the packaging half.

Why the packaging half deserves its own site

The label and claims side of supplements is well covered elsewhere in this library, and it is where most published advice stops. The count, the seal, the desiccant and the closure are where the money and the recalls are, and they get far less attention.

References

16 CFR 1700.14(a)(13), Dietary supplements containing iron, requiring special packaging where a supplement contains the equivalent of 250 mg or more of elemental iron from any source in a single package at 0.025 percent or more weight-to-volume for liquids or 0.05 percent or more weight-to-weight for nonliquids, excepting iron present solely as a colorant and powdered preparations at no more than 0.12 percent weight-to-weight. law.cornell.edu
16 CFR 1700.15, Poison prevention packaging standards: not less than 85 percent child-resistant effectiveness without a demonstration and 80 percent after one, the packaging must keep working in actual contact with the substance and across the openings and closings customary for its size and contents, and special packaging under those paragraphs shall not be reused. law.cornell.edu
Written from federal regulation and from measured catalog data, not from a packaging line. Whether a product crosses the iron threshold is a calculation about your formula and your fill count, and the figures here are the test rather than the answer. Nothing on these pages certifies a package as child-resistant; 16 CFR 1700.15 tests the assembly, not the cap.