In the world of dietary supplements, navigating claims is complex.
The upside of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) is that the law allowed the products to remain under the umbrella of food, an important component of self-care for consumers seeking supplements to a healthy diet. The downside is without a drug-like pre-approval process, communicating claims for dietary supplements can be limited.
One of the most complex categories for claims is the immune health category, especially now. As the world looks beyond the ravages of the coronavirus with a hopeful eye toward a return to normal, it’s important that the dietary supplement industry takes stock of how we navigate a post-COVID world.
Glanbia Nutritionals’ goal is to offer our manufacturer and marketing partners, as well as the industry as a whole, a roadmap to help ensure adherence to the extensive rules and regulations that cover dietary supplements when it comes to making label and marketing claims, especially in the immune health category. At the very least, we hope this guide will highlight the need for companies to take seriously the regulations, to rely on regulatory and legal experts as needed, and to engage in teamwork between marketing, sales, regulatory, legal and business development executives to make sure all parties are on the same page.
This guide covers the regulation of claims for dietary supplements, specifically in the U.S. market, and with a focus on immunity products. It covers consumer trends in the immune health category including those top-of-mind ingredients thought by consumers to help protect or support immune health; provides an overview of dietary supplement claims, including what’s allowable and what’s not; and recommends best practices for legally selling non-drug products for immune health.