Among people who use dietary supplements, the most popular products at the end of 2010 were fish oil, multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium and CoQ10, according to a survey by ConsumerLab.com, White Plains, NY.

Use of vitamin D surged in 2010 to 56% of those surveyed, up from 48% in 2009 and 37% in 2008—a 52% increase over the two-year period. Fish oil continued its rise in popularity, used by 75% of those surveyed, up from 74% in 2009. Meanwhile, multivitamin use declined to 70% last year from 72% in 2009 and 74% in 2008.

The ConsumerLab.com survey is conducted each November and is based on more than 6000 responses from a sampling of subscribers to the ConsumerLab.com free e-newsletter. Most respondents in the survey use multiple supplements.

Among the 2010 survey’s other key findings:

• Women were much more likely than men to have taken vitamin D, calcium, or probiotics. Men were more likely than women to have taken CoQ10, herbs and extracts, glucosamine/chondroitin, vitamin E, resveratrol, amino acids, nutrition drinks and powders and several other supplements.

• Younger adults were more likely to have used a multivitamin than older adults: 73% of people aged 35 to 44 used a multivitamin, compared to 68% of those aged 75 to 84. Younger adults were also more likely than older adults to have used amino acids, nutrition/protein drinks and powders, green tea, nutrition bars, iron and several other supplements.

• Older adults were more likely than younger adults to have used vitamin D, calcium, CoQ10, vitamin C, vitamin E, resveratrol, vitamin K and red yeast rice. For example, 65% of those aged 75 to 84 used vitamin D, compared to 48% of those 35 to 44.

• Calcium was the fourth most popular supplement, used by 55% of respondents, up from 51% last year.

• Use of CoQ10, the fifth most popular supplement, fell in use from 55% to 53% of respondents.

• Other than among the top five supplements, the largest changes since 2009 in the use of the other 26 types of supplements covered in the survey were the use of herbs and extracts (down from 44% to 38%) and glucosamine/chondroitin (down from 38.5% to 35%).

• Among 10 types of merchants from which people purchased their supplements, the most common was online stores, used by 46.5% of respondents—up from 44% in 2009 and 40% in 2008. The increase was offset by small declines in the use of vitamin stores, mass merchants and direct distributors.

• Respondents also rated 1356 brands and 1186 merchants they used. Among these, 70 brands and 33 merchants each received at least 100 to 1707 consumer ratings.

Tod Cooperman, MD, president of ConsumerLab.com, said, “We originally began the annual survey to direct our product testing toward supplement categories and brands of greatest interest to ConsumerLab.com members. It has evolved into an excellent barometer of the nutrition marketplace.”