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Hindus and Vitamin D3 additive (supplement)

In nature, the cow's milk has about 35 to 70 IU of Vitamin D3 per quart of milk. We need about 400 IU of Vitamin D3 per quart of milk to metabolize Calcium. Therefore, the milk sold in United States is fortified with Vitamin D3. For Hindus, the Vitamin D3 used to fortify milk or sold as supplement may be of concern for religious reasons. 

Human and animal skin has a high concentration of the sterol cholesterol which is converted by enzymes in the skin to the sterol 7-Dehydrocholesterol. When the skin is exposed to sunlight, 7-dehydrocholesterol is converted into vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 can be stored in the tissue for a long time. 

To produce Vitamin D3 commercially, 7-Dehydrocholesterol is extracted from animal skin. The animal may be either the cow, pig, or a sheep. It is purified and converted to a crystalline 7-dehydrocholesterol. Crystalline 7-dehydrocholesterol is indistinguishable from its animal source. The crystalline 7-dehydrocholesterol is dissolved in an organic solvent and exposed to ultraviolet light to produce vitamin D3. This vitamin D3 is then purified and crystallized. This is the Vitamin D3 that is used to fortify the milk and sold to make Vitamin supplements.

Cosmetics industry, extracts Lanolin (as an additive for body moisturizers) from the sheep wool fat. Cholesterol can be extracted from Lanolin and converted to 7-Dehydrocholesterol. It is purified and crystalline form produced to obtain Vitamin D3 as explained earlier.

In United States, there is no legal requirement to specify the animal source used to synthesize Vitamin D3.