The Need for a Legal Distinction of Nutraceuticals

Annemarie Koch, Sonja Brandenburger, Suzanne Türpe, Marc Birringer

Department of Nutritional, Food and Consumer Studies, University of Applied Sciences Fulda, Fulda, Germany.

DOI: 10.4236/fns.2014.510100                

Abstract

The nutraceutical and botanical terms are often used by the lay press or for marketing purposes to describe health beneficial food, food supplements or herbs. However, there is no common definition of nutraceuticals or botanicals and moreover a lack of regulation that classifies this category. Concerning their health value, it is unclear if they belong to drugs or food. Currently, they fall into a legal limbo between both. This regulatory lack can lead to misuse of claims indicating a health benefit or the misleading of the consumer. This review will focus on current definitions of nutraceutical, botanical, functional food and food supplements with special emphasis on the differences between the US and European legislation. Some special considerations will be given for Germany, one of the main markets for food supplements in Europe.

Keywords

Nutraceutical, Botanical, Food Supplement, Definition, Legislation

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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