Trust in nutrition industry declines amid rising supplement usage

30 Aug 2021 --- The dietary supplement industry is facing consumer mistrust despite experiencing a significant period of recent growth. This is according to Krishna Rajendran, CEO of Karallief, a nutraceutical company that distributes clinically studied herbal extracts.

“The supplement industry went through a major period of growth in 2020. The pandemic had a lot to do with that, as people were more inclined to take charge of their health,” he tells NutritionInsight.

“People have been looking for ways to maintain their immunity and have turned to dietary supplements. From the lessons we learned about consumer behaviors in 2020, we can make the necessary changes to help build trust in dietary supplements and expand the category even more.”Label inaccuracies are a huge risk for the food and supplement industry.

Reaffirming the surge in supplement use, a different survey by the Samueli Foundation found 29 percent of 2,000 US consumers began using supplements after the COVID-19 pandemic began, bringing the overall number of supplement users to 76 percent.

Consumer mistrust explained
Consumer concern about the quality and accuracy of supplements is due to supplements not being scientifically validated. When these supplements are scientifically researched, companies do not provide simple scientific information that consumers understand, comments Rajendran.

“Moreover, supplements do not always contain the amount of the ingredient mentioned on the label. Some supplements may claim to have a certain ingredient on the label, but in reality, a different, inferior, low-cost substitute may have been used,” he adds.

A study from Ireland’s Waterford Institute of Technology previously found that 61 percent of 46 vision supplement goods marketed in Europe, Mexico and the US did not contain the amount of carotenoids, the active ingredient, claimed on the labels.

Testing concerns
Another reason for consumer mistrust is that some supplements may not have been thoroughly tested, including contaminants such as heavy metals and pesticides above the recommended levels, Rajendran notes.

According to a prior test conducted by NOW, 12 of the 23 turmeric extracts tested failed to meet the potency standard, contained synthetic curcuminoids, heavy metals or used gelatin caps instead of the advertised vegetable capsules.

However, Innova Market Insights’ data reveals that supplement brands are working to achieve cleaner labels. The market researcher notes that supplement launches with a clean label claim experienced a 15 percent average annual growth between 2014 to 2018 in West Europe.Forty-seven percent of US consumers do not trust the dietary supplement industry.

Lastly, companies can also exaggerate the quality and ability, such as claiming that some products can cure diseases, adds Rajendran.

Adulteration in food supplement industry
Label inaccuracies are a huge risk for the food and supplement industry as these inaccuracies can lead to more issues for the industry as a whole.

“Trust is very crucial, and when consumers find out that companies aren’t providing accurate information, they lose that trust. That affects the industry as a whole because more people will collectively have a mistrust of the industry, and that will affect its growth in the future,” says Rajendran.

“Ingredient traceability in the supplement industry is necessary to understand where and how a problem occurred and how to prevent it from occurring again. The most important thing is to develop and maintain a detailed system of documentation that is updated to reflect additional new risks in the supply chain.”

In July, an ABC, AHP and BAPP partnership was formed to address the ongoing issue of adulteration in the dietary food supplement industry.

By Nicole Kerr