Food supplements are an ever present feature of modern life. 

Visit any pharmacy, health food store or supermarket and you’ll see tablets, powders and drops that promise better sleep, younger skin, healthier joints, more energy, a stronger immune system and that elusive flat stomach. 

If you’re online then you’re likely to see personalized adverts appealing directly to your age group or lifestyle. Influencers might also do paid promotions for supplements, share advice and recommendations with their followers, or even sell food supplements. 

But how many people consume food supplements, and why? And how much do they know about what they are putting in their bodies? 

Half of Belgians take food supplements 

A new study by Euroconsumers’ member in Belgium Testachats/Testaankoop found that the majority of Belgians (53%) take food supplements. 

Most of them (70%) want to make up for what they feel are deficiencies in their diet, others want to strengthen the immune system (37%) or have more vitality (24%) or for cosmetic benefits (12%). 

Of course in some circumstances, like being pregnant or recovering from illness, supplements can be really useful. In most other cases, a balanced diet should provide enough nutrition. 

However, the idea of proactively managing health and wellbeing with additional supplements or even finding a miracle boost is very appealing. 

With such high numbers taking vitamins, minerals and extracts, it’s concerning that not everyone is aware that supplements can be detrimental to your health. In the Belgian survey, four out of ten people were completely unaware that food supplements could be unsafe.  

Regulating risks of food supplements 

Food supplements are not regulated in the same way as medicines which must go through rigorous testing and trials. There is no obligation on food supplement manufacturers to prove the substance in the product delivers what they say, or that the concentration of the active ingredient is at the right level to work.

Food supplements can make certain authorized claims in terms of health benefits. However, they cannot pretend they can prevent or cure diseases. 

For products to have a health claim actually authorized by the EU, it must be backed up by studies – however, the studies only need to relate to the active ingredient and not to the product that reaches the market.

Risk of food supplements 

This less stringent regime can give the impression that they may be without risk but in fact, supplements can be detrimental to health.

For example, St John’s wort has been shown to affect the effectiveness of the contraceptive pill. Mystery shopping by Testachats found that consumers were not told about this risk by the retail outlet or in the packaging information. St John’s wort also interacts with statins or anti-depressants and can cause problems for users. 

Another risk is accidentally overdosing on one ingredient. This can happen by taking too many, manufacturers using too high a dosage, or by not realizing that a particular ingredient is present in different forms or under different names in other supplements. 

With more and more combinations of ingredients out there, knowing exactly what you’re consuming and in what amount can be really tricky.

Mixed attitudes on safety risks of food supplements 

As expected, those who consume food supplements have a more favorable opinion of them than those who don’t, with around 40% considering them safe, and half of them (51%) taking them without consulting a doctor, pharmacist or dietician. 

Of those who don’t take them, almost 80% said they should only be taken after medical advice, and interestingly half of the supplement takers (49%) also agree they should be taken under the supervision of a health professional, and 70% of the same group think they may have side effects.

Mistrust around food supplement claims 

Another mixed result came from questions about trust in claims made about the impact of food supplements. Only 9% of all respondents considered the claims on packaging to be scientifically founded – but this doesn’t seem to be putting people off buying them in large numbers.  

Many supplements are marketed responsibly with all the right caveats and information but grey areas in the legislation leave a lot of room for misleading info, and this could be adding to a sense of mistrust. 

Food supplements are not allowed to claim they cure or prevent conditions or illnesses, but they can say that they might benefit a person taking them if they have a  ‘nutritional or physiological effect’.

This leads to a host of confusion, for example a claim that a product enables “urinary comfort” could easily be understood to mean it would reduce pain associated with something like cystitis? Or a manufacturer not allowed to claim that Vitamin C boosts the immune system, can say that it contributes to its functioning. 

The environment around food supplements also matters, being sold in pharmacies in packaging and capsule form like medicine reinforces the idea that they are just as effective, safe and useful. 

Claims take advantage of supervisory loophole

Monitoring of claims and ingredients is also hampered by a particular issue in the European authorisation process. As soon as a claim about a particular substance is approved you may use that claim for any product containing that substance.

What may surprise you is that since 2012, checks on over 2,000 claims about the benefits of a particular substance have not been completed. These decisions on claims are said to be ‘on hold’, but while a decision is on hold the manufacturers are still able to make the claim. 

For example, the claim that green tea and weight control is on hold, but there is nothing to stop any product containing green tea saying it can help with ‘weight control’. 

Rewatch Euroconsumers Start Talking webinar featuring European Federation of Associations of Food Supplement Manufacturers (EHPM), Testachats, Beckii Flint, founder of Influencer Marketing agency Pepper Studio and Dr Rachael Kent, expert in health and social media: The magical world of food supplements: health boom or health bust?