Selling dietary supplements - what should you watch out for?

So that you can safely market your food supplements, they must be checked analytically. In this way you ensure that your products are marketable - i.e. free of contaminants and residues, correctly labeled and contain the advertised levels of vitamins, for example. The food supplements ordinance regulates the requirements for the labeling and composition of food supplements for sale in Germany.

Dietary supplements belong to the category of foods and are, according to the Dietary Supplement Ordinance (NemV)

They are mainly sold in the form of tablets, capsules, ampoules or powders and differ significantly from medicinal products because they are used to alleviate or prevent diseases or complaints. Dietary supplements are only intended to supplement food.

In order for you to be able to sell your food supplements properly, a few points must be observed, which we have put together for you below:

There are recurring problems that you, as a manufacturer or distributor of dietary supplements, should be aware of in order to avoid them with your products. This includes:

Food supplements can be contaminated with bacteria. To ensure that no pathogenic germs have entered the product during the production chain, a microbiological control is essential to ensure consumer health. Herbal food supplements, for example, are more often contaminated with salmonella, which can pose a health risk. Food supplements contaminated with Salmonella can lead to a Salmonella infection in the consumer with symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain and headache.

Due to the fact that food supplements belong to the group of foods, the provisions of Regulation 1169/2011 are required for labeling. According to Article 9, the mandatory information includes:

In addition, according to the NemV, the following information must be included on the label:

Another important point when labeling food supplements is the nutrition and health information, also known as health claims. Only the nutrition and health claims approved in accordance with EU Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 may be used on the label. This ensures that consumers are protected from misleading or deceptive information on the products.

For nutrition information is information which convey that the product specific nutritional properties, if it contains a particular nutrient or does not contain, or it is increased or reduced. For example, the information “low in fat” or “source of fiber” is nutritional information. In order for a dietary supplement to be called a “source of fiber”, it must contain at least 6g of fiber per 100g or 3g of fiber per 100 kcal.

Health claims are claims that convey that the product or an ingredient is related to health. Regulation (EU) 432/2012 lists all approved health claims that relate to the reduction of a disease risk or the development and health of children and their conditions. For example, the health claim “Linoleic acid helps maintain normal blood cholesterol levels” can be used if the food contains at least 1.5 g linoleic acid per 100 g and 100 kcal.

Do you need support in the jungle of labeling regulations? No problem - the experts at the Tentamus Group are always up to date with the latest legal requirements and will be happy to advise you. We also check di

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