Resveratrol Food Supplement Products and the Challenges of Accurate Label Information to Ensure Food Safety for Consumers

The food supplement market is growing as many consumers wish to complement their nutrient intake. Despite all the regulations in place to ensure food supplements safety, there are still many cases of irregularities reported especially connected to internet sales. Twenty resveratrol food supplement products sold on the Slovenian market were evaluated on their compliance of declared vs. determined resveratrol content, as well as the compliance of labels with the European Union (EU) and Slovenian regulatory requirements. Both the ingredient contents and food information are important parts of food safety. Analyses of 20 food supplements performed using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) coupled with densitometry showed that 95% of products had contents different from what was declared and 55% of products contained higher contents than declared. In 25% of the products the determined content per unit exceeded the maximum level (150 mg/day) specified in EU novel food conditions for food supplement with trans-resveratrol. Evaluation of the 20 food supplement labels included mandatory and voluntary food information, food supplement information, novel food information, health claims and nutrition claims. Most labels contained the necessary information, but multiple errors were observed ranging from typos to misleading practices. From a food safety perspective there is still a lot of improvement needed in the field of food supplements.

Automated summary

The food supplement market is growing due to consumers' desire to supplement their nutrient intake. However, despite regulations in place, irregularities in the industry, particularly in internet sales, are still common. An evaluation of 20 resveratrol food supplement products sold in Slovenia showed that 95% had different contents than declared, with 55% containing higher contents. Additionally, there were errors and misleading practices observed in the labeling of these supplements.