Evaluation and regulation of food supplements: European perspective

The regulation of food/dietary supplements is one of the most complex topics in food law. For many years food supplements were simply food items intended to balance the diet or provide for special dietary needs. Healthy nutrition requires appropriate dietary intake of energy in the form of macronutrients (i.e., protein, fat, carbohydrates, and total calories) as well as the adequate intake (AI) of essential nutrients, which comprise vitamins, trace elements, minerals, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids. A person’s requirements for different nutrients are related to his or her energy requirements, age, height, and weight. They will differ according to different physiological conditions, such as whether the person is growing or not and whether a woman is pregnant or lactating. Lifestyle factors such as level of physical activity, stress, smoking, and alcohol consumption also may affect nutrient requirements. In this chapter the European Union’s regulatory framework on food supplements and other similar nutritional products as well as nutrition and health claims, novel food ingredients, foods for particular nutritional purposes and dietetic foods, food supplements from botanicals, traditional herbal medicines, and fortified foods is presented. The role and activities of the European Food Safety Authority are also described.