Vitamins can help keep eyes healthy.(MERCHANDISING)

NEW YORK -- Vitamins can serve as an ideal complementary product category in the eye care departments of drug stores.

Alcon, which is a division of Novartis AG, markets the ICAPS line of eye vitamins featuring what it says is a specialized formula of antioxidant vitamins, minerals and carotenoids believed to be important to vision and eye health.

The products contain lutein and zeaxanthin, nutrients that occur naturally in the macua and are believed to help protect the eye by reducing oxitative stress and absorbing free radicals.

Bausch + Lomb last fall released a redesign of its PreserVision Eye Vitamin AREDS 2 formula. The new, smaller soft gel is dosed …