Food supplement regulation and the reasons for it are a vital area of knowledge for nutraceutical companies to understand and follow if they want to remain compliant in all aspects of their business.

Supplement regulation affects all aspects of nutraceutical products (or food or dietary supplements as they are commonly known by consumers), including the research and production processes to labelling and marketing. Supplement regulation is often seen as a grey area by consumers and some parts of the medical industries, however in the European Union, the Food Supplements Directive of 2002 helps to ensure that the products sold by the nutraceutical industry are safe to consumers in terms of quality and also in terms of the recommended dosages that the supplements labelling describes.

There is much continued debate about the benefits to the human body when taking additional food supplements, and many commentators believe that a healthy well balanced diet of vegetables, dairy products, meat, fish and grain based foods are all the body requires to sustain itself in a natural way. Sceptics of food supplements maintain that adequate protein, vitamins, fibre and carbohydrates can be found from these food groups alone.

However, this argument may be plausible in the defence of healthy people, but as is widely known supplement regulation is there to ensure that irrespective of the supposed benefits of taking food supplements, that at the very least, the products won't harm individuals.

Supplement regulation is also important because it protects those groups of people who suffer from medical conditions to which additional dietary supplements can make a proven and positive difference. Such conditions that therefore benefit from supplement regulation might include medical problems like arthritis for example. For this condition, food supplements like cod liver oil can help improve body joints whilst additional Calcium can help improve bone strength.