2. Product Categories

Dietary Supplements
United Kingdom (UK)

This section provides the regulatory definition of the food category in scope, or the appropriate food category for the product in scope. Additionally, it provides the food products that belong to this food category along with the definition and specific information on each of these types of food products.

2.1 Category Name & Definition

Category Name

Food supplement

Definition [1]

As per the legal definition, “Food supplement” means any food the purpose of which is to supplement the normal diet and which:

1. is a concentrated source of a vitamin, mineral, or other substance with a nutritional or physiological effect, alone or in combination; and 
2. is sold in dose form.

Additional Information [1]

Legal Definition of ‘dose’

Dose form namely forms such as capsules, pastilles, tablets, pills, and other similar forms; sachets of powder, ampoules of liquids, drop dispensing bottles, and other similar forms of liquids and powders designed to be taken in measured small unit quantities.

2.2 Product & Definition

1) Food supplement containing ingredients of animal origin

Definition

As defined in section 2.1 above but with ingredients of animal origin.

Examples of meat products that a food supplement may contain:

• Milk products(dried milk powder, whey, or lactose)
• Egg products (dried egg powder)
• Meat products (any animal tissues such as thymus glands or ground bone material)
• Fishery Products (ground shell or bones)

Specifications/Target Age

N/A

Additional Information

N/A

2) Food supplement containing botanical ingredients

Definition

As defined in section 2.1 above.

Specifications/Target Age

N/A

Additional Information

There is no internationally shared definition of the term “botanical”. However, it is possible to cite what was defined by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in its guidelines published in 2009 [2]. The term botanical includes whole, fragmented, or cut plants, plant parts, fungi, and lichens. The term botanical preparations includes all preparations obtained from botanicals by various processes, such as pressing, squeezing, extraction, fractionation, distillation, concentration, drying up, and fermentation.

2.3 References

1. Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements (Text with EEA relevance) (legislation.gov.uk)

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2002/46 

2. EFSA. Guidance on Safety assessment of botanicals and botanical preparations intended for use as ingredients in food supplements. EFSA J. 2009,7, 1249

https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/1249