Some of the world’s largest food manufacturers, including Nestlé and Unilever, are flooding the market with expensive dietary supplements that promise solutions to stress, obesity, and menopausal symptoms—yet nearly half of these health claims allegedly violate European Union advertising regulations, according to an investigation by The Investigative Desk for Follow the Money and Dutch television program Radar.
The investigation examined 431 supplements backed by the ten largest food producers in Europe. These products were submitted to the Nederlandse Keuringsraad, a self-regulatory body created by the food and pharmaceutical industries to help companies comply with advertising codes for over-the-counter health products. Experts from the Keuringsraad assessed whether the claims met the standards set by the EU’s Health Claims Regulation, which permits only those statements explicitly approved and listed in the public EU register.
198 of the 431 supplements—nearly half—allegedly featured unauthorized or outright forbidden health claims on their packaging, websites, or sales platforms. In several cases, the claims reportedly ventured into territory reserved solely for medicines, a serious violation of EU law.
Nestlé, which marketed 350 of the reviewed supplements, reportedly had unauthorized claims on 115 of them. These included phrases such as “supports healthy blood” and “helps maintain responsible cholesterol levels.” Eighteen Nestlé products reportedly went further,...
Some of the world’s largest food manufacturers, including Nestlé and Unilever, are flooding the market with expensive dietary supplements that promise solutions to stress, obesity, and menopausal ...