Supplementary Food Products
What are food supplements ?
The idea behind food supplements, also called dietary or nutritional supplements, is to deliver nutrients that may not be consumed in sufficient quantities. Food supplements can be vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and other substances delivered in the form of pills, tablets, capsules, liquid, etc.1 Supplements are available in a range of doses, and in different combinations. However, only a certain amount of each nutrient is needed for our bodies to function, and higher amounts are not necessarily better. At high doses, some substances may have adverse effects, and may become harmful. For the reason of safeguarding consumers’ health, supplements can therefore only be legally sold with an appropriate daily dose recommendation, and a warning statement not to exceed that dose.
Supplement use varies in Europe. For example it is common in Germany and Denmark (43% and 59% of the adult population respectively) but is less so in Ireland and Spain (23% and 9% respectively). Women use supplements more than men.
