IT’S NO SECRET that having food allergies means you need to carefully inspect the label of everything before it goes in your mouth. But sometimes what’s in the package isn’t entirely reflected on the label, raising the risk of allergic reaction when you don’t expect it.
Unfortunately, mislabeling is behind MTN OPS’s recall of more than 7,500 bottles of its popular MTN OPS MULTI-V Men’s Daily Multivitamin dietary supplement. The recalled multivitamins contain undeclared soy flour, according to an alert from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This is listed as a Class II recall, which is the FDA’s second most severe recall category. This means that using the multivitamin “may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote,” according to the FDA.
The affected multivitamins come in a 60-capsule bottle and have the UPC number 8 40359 40458 2. The bottles also have an expiration date of 03/2026 and a lot number of 012324177. They were distributed across the country, except for Rhode Island.
How did soy flour end up in the supplements in the first place? A representative for MTN OPS didn’t get back to Men’s Health by deadline, but there are a few possibilities.
One is that the soy flour may have been there all along—the vitamins just weren’t labeled properly, says food safety expert Darin Detwiler, LPD, author of the book Food Safety: Past, Present, and Predictions, and a professor at Northeastern University. “Soy flour can be used as an inactive filler or binder in the capsule, especially if it’s used for texture or bulk,” he explains. “Another way is as a carrier for other nutrients or botanical ingredients.”
There’s a chance that the soy flour got into the capsules through cross-contamination if the equipment used to process the multivitamin also processes products that contain soy and proper cleaning protocols weren’t followed, according to Detwiler.
“Soy is commonly found in multivitamins and nutrition supplements,” says Ellen Shumaker, PhD, a food safety expert and director of outreach for the Safe Plates program at North Carolina State University. “However, soy is one of the top nine allergens in the United States and so there are many multivitamins that are produced free of soy to accommodate this allergen.”
For people who have an allergy to soy, eating it even in trace amounts can trigger a range of reactions, from hives and GI issues to life-threatening anaphylaxis, Detwiler says. “This is a public trust issue, not just a personal health one,” he says. “The law requires accurate labeling so all consumers can make safe, informed choices—especially those with life-threatening allergies. When a product fails to disclose known allergens, it undermines consumer confidence and violates food safety standards for everyone.”
If you have these multivitamins at home and don’t have a soy allergy, Shumaker says you’re fine to keep on using them. But if you’re allergic to soy and have one of the recalled bottles, stop using them immediately. You can contact MTN OPS customer service about a refund.
If you accidentally took one of the recalled multivitamins and had an allergic reaction, contact your healthcare provider about next steps.
Of course, it never hurts to throw out a reminder to always speak to your doctor or a dietitian before taking any kind of supplement. You also want to make sure to choose products that are made and distributed by reputable companies and undergo third-party testing like NSF or Informed Choice. These designations help ensure that what the label says is actually what’s in the bottle.
For a list of Men’s Health-approved multivitamins that meet these standards check our Best Multivitamins for Men story, or find one of our favorite (soy-free) picks below.
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
