Frequently asked questions

Biogena as a brand is older the EU Organic Regulation. The “Bio” in Biogena comes from the ancient Greek “βíος” (bios), meaning life. But there is more meaning behind this term. For Aristotle, bios was the lifestyle of those who had a rational soul. Bios forges a bridge to our mission of improving people’s health and lives. But let us return to the EU Organic Regulation. If a product contains vitamins or minerals, as it is the case for nearly all of our products, we cannot by law call it an “organic” product. Even if some ingredients are sourced from organic farming. The Organic Regulation lets us only use our name Biogena if we include the declaration “not an organic product in terms of EU regulation VO 834/2007” on the label.

At Biogena, quality and safety are our top priorities. All newly developed products are subjected to a stress test. They are stored for several months at high temperatures and high humidity. Only those products that pass this test are included in the Biogena range.

The Biogena capsules contain high-quality ingredients - short-term transport or storage (in their packaging) in hot conditions does not affect shelf life or quality.

According to the storage instructions (printed on the label), once the product arrives at its destination, it should be stored at room temperature in a cool, dry place.

We ask for your understanding that for legal reasons, we can only provide product information. Please see your doctor for treatment recommendations.

Biogena offers lactobacteria in the form of powder (e.g. Junior Omni Bo® 6) and capsules (Omni Lactis® 10 Caps). In order to attain the best results with living bacteria, different recommendations for intake should be observed for powder and capsule products. In the case of the capsule product “Omni Lactis® 10 Caps”, we use cellulose capsules (DRcaps®) that dissolve only when they reach the intestine and that protect the bacteria from the acidic, germicidal pH-value in the stomach due to their special manufacture. Ideally, “Omni Lactis® 10 Caps” should be taken on an empty stomach, at best with water in room temperature. The powder product “Junior Omni Bo® 6” should be stirred into room-temperature water. After 10 to 15 minutes, during which the bacteria are activated and start multiplying, the mixture should be stirred and drunk immediately. Ideally, “Junior Omni Bo® 6” should be taken on an empty stomach in order to reduce contact time with stomach acid and this way improve the survival rate of microorganisms.

Our algae preparations “Spirulina 400”, “ChlorellaPur”, “Chlorella Pur C plus”, as well as our omega-3 preparations, contain only very small amounts of iodine (max. 1.6 µg iodine per capsule) and can therefore also be taken if you follow a low-iodine diet. The German Nutrition Society recommends a daily intake of 200 µg iodine for healthy persons between 13 and 51 years of age. Over 51 years, 180 µg is recommended.

More than 80% of all Biogena products are suitable for vegans. Whether a product is suitable for vegetarians or vegans is clearly indicated on the label and in the product description.

Biogena defines "vegan" or "suitable for vegans" as all products that do not contain raw materials that are products of animal origin. In addition, ingredients of animal origin have been eliminated at all stages of production and processing. Only the synthesis of micronutrients by bacteria or yeasts cannot be excluded by this designation.

Biogena defines products as "vegetarian" or "suitable for vegetarians" if they meet the definition of "vegan" but in the production of which the following products of live animals may have been added or used in addition milk, colostrum, farm poultry eggs, honey, beeswax, propolis, wool fat/lanolin from wool derived from live sheep. Similarly, their ingredients or products derived from them may have been added or used in the production process.

The best idea is to tell your doctor about Biogena products and request that he or she looks into them. Your doctor can request information about Biogena preparations from us and can then write you a prescription or recommendation. We will deliver the products to your home address if you submit a doctor’s prescription. .

Biogena capsules are not designed for opening and directly swallowing the active ingredient powder they contain. If possible, you should – as intended – swallow the capsule as a whole. In exceptional cases, such as, for example, if you have trouble swallowing the capsule, our powder preparations can be opened by pulling the two halves of the capsule apart. The active ingredient powder can be stirred into water, still mineral water or herbal tea and should be consumed immediately. Since black tea, coke or fruit juices can inhibit the absorption of the active ingredient in the body, they are not suitable for mixing. It is not possible to open the capsule for all Biogena products, however. No enzyme preparations should be opened (DigestioCym® 200 vegetarisch, BromeZym® Zink 10, ConfiZym® and DoloZym® forte Gold, LactroZym® and DAOZym®), nor probiotics (Omni Lactis® 20 Gold and Omni Lactis® 20 Pur Gold). In the case of iron (Ferrogena® 10, QuattroFerrin® 21, SmartFerrin® B12, MoFerrin® 21, Iron & Vitamin C), opening is also not recommended since it can cause the teeth to be stained.

Our products do not contain additional fructose and are mostly fructose-free. Preparations containing plant extracts contain small amounts of natural fructose (milligrams). Because fructose malabsorption is typically only a concern when grams of fructose are involved, those affected usually have no troubles with these small amounts of fructose.

We put a lot of thought into our products. We don’t only think about their ingredients, but also about how to package them. Usually, we use undyed plant-made capsule shells made from hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, the so-called Vcaps® Plus. The capsule shells dissolve easily in the gastro-intestinal tract and the contents become quickly available for the body. For special products that require a safe passage through the stomach, that is, preparations with bacterial cultures or proteolytic enzymes, we use special capsule shells, the so-called DRcaps®(delayed release capsules). These are also made of cellulose but they take longer to dissolve (tests showed after approximately 45 minutes). Therefore, the capsule’s contents are released in the intestine, where bacterial cultures and proteolytic enzymes are no longer subjected to stomach acid, which is harmful to them. Vcaps® Plus and DRcaps® are vegan and have a halal as well as a kosher certification. For capsules with liquid contents, such as in the case of omega-3 fish oil concentrates, we use capsule shells made from fish gelatine. These capsule shells are free of pork or beef and can be used worldwide. For some products containing vegetable oil we use an undyed transparent capsule shell made from modified starch. You can see in the list of ingredients which capsule shell has been used for which product.

At Biogena, “pure substance principle” means that we do not use technological additives which are used for the fully automated manufacturing of tablets, capsules and pills (e.g. anticaking or release agents and so forth) or additives that are used for optical reasons or for enhancing the taste of the products (artificial aroma, colouring agents, coatings etc.). Due to a semi-automatic manufacturing process, we can avoid these substances that often have a higher proportion in customary products than the actual active ingredients. In the case of nutritional supplements, additives have to be indicated in the list of ingredients, in the case of medication you find these substances under “inactive ingredients”. Here, the patient or customer can get useful information. Concerning the single ingredients, we also care for our raw materials to be free of carrier substances. In cases where this is not possible, we use natural food components such as maltodextrin, cellulose powder or calcium carbonate. The majority of our ingredients is produced exclusively for us – free of carrier substances (e.g. our enzymes our probiotics: other manufacturers often use lactose as a carrier – the product batches produced for us are explicitly without carriers).

We use the following specifications on our labels, package inserts and product information: - on an empty stomach: Take the capsule 30 to 60 minutes before a meal or no sooner than 2 hours after a meal. - before a meal: Take the capsule approximately 30 minutes before a meal. - with a meal: We recommend taking the capsule when eating. - after a meal: This specification is imprecise and can mean different times. This is why in most package inserts there are precise time specifications (e.g. 1 hour after a meal).

The following applies to all iron preparations: never take with milk or dairy products. You should also avoid taking them together with black or green tea because these can bind the iron and thus impair its absorption. Orange juice can increase iron absorption because of the vitamin C it contains. For all food supplements, the recommended dosage of the preparation should generally be complied with to avoid complications.

Biogena cooperates with respected physicians and therapists in many different countries. With them, you are in good hands. You can also buy our products from our Biogena stores in Vienna, Linz, Salzburg, Graz, Natternbach, Freilassing and Frankfurt (Germany) as well as online at www.biogena.com.

The use of top-quality raw materials is a must for Biogena. We would never be able to manufacture high quality products from raw material of mediocre or dubious quality. We choose the ingredients exclusively according to criteria of quality and purity, sustainability and scientific documentation. We source our ingredients from certified suppliers from all over the world and they are available in top bioavailable compounds. Biogena preparations that contain branded raw materials normally carry the logo of the branded raw materials on their label. This is a benefit for our customers since they can get additional information concerning the materials’ quality and manufacture. Customers can potentially read studies concerning the raw material on the manufacturer’s website.

We invest in the quality of our products and not in advertising, which for the most part we do without. Advertising costs often comprise up to 40% of the price you pay for a product. This is not the case at Biogena, where our focus is primarily on the quality of the contents. We leave large advertising budgets to others – we trust in word-of-mouth recommendations!

We believe that the administration of orthomolecular medicine should be entrusted to the experts and for this reason we would like you to clarify your micronutrient strategy with a professional before buying Biogena preparations for improving your health.

The doctor decides on the recommended dosage individually on a case-by-case basis, taking all key factors into consideration (e.g. your age, weight and nutritional status).

We ask for your understanding if certain Biogena products are temporarily available from time to time. This is because we at Biogena are radical fanatics about quality and, in order to meet these high standards, we source and process only the best raw materials available on the market. This means that we are also dependent on our raw material suppliers. Top quality standards are occasionally a limiting factor here, just like everywhere else. 

However, we don’t stop with our own quality standards: raw material and food safety are at least as important to us. This is why we also have every batch checked by the LEFO Institute for Food and Environment (www.lefo.de) before finally placing the product on the market. This process can occasionally lead to unpredictable delays that are sometimes unavoidable if we want to meet our own standards for maximum quality in accordance with the pure substance principle.