Dietary Supplement Facts Panel vs. Nutritional Facts Panel
All food manufacturers want to protect their customers and ensure that they make informed decisions about the products they consume.
With the exponential growth of the human nutrition and wellness market, concern about health claims and messages that could mislead the consumer is growing. This is why food producers must follow specific requirements when dealing with packaged foods and supplements.
Since regulations differ between food and dietary supplement products, manufacturers may need some guidance during this process. It's important to understand the differences between nutrition labels and supplement labels and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements for food manufacturers to ensure compliance with product labeling mandates.
Dietary Supplement Facts Panel vs. Nutritional Facts Panel
Most packaged foods contain a nutrition label with all the information about a product to help consumers make informed choices. The supplement facts panel is the required label for products intended to be marketed as a dietary supplement.
Although they serve the same purpose, there are fundamental differences between the two.
Flexibility of Supplement Label vs. Nutritional Label
Food and supplement products can bear the following claims: health claims, nutrient content claims, and structure/function claims. While the FDA strictly regulates health claims, manufacturers have more flexibility to use nutrient and structure/function claims on labels.
Health Claims
These claims are limited to disease risk reduction and must be truthful, non-misleading, evidence-based, and helpful to consumers. One example is "Development of cancer depends on many factors. A diet low in total fat may reduce the risk of some cancers".
To use any health claim, food or supplement manufacturers must gain FDA approval. The FDA distinguishes two types of health claims:
- Authorized: Claims meeting a standard of "significant scientific agreement (SSA)," which means the claim is supported by all available public scientific evidence.
- Qualified: Claims backed by significant scientific evidence, but don't meet the requirements for the SSA standard. To prevent misinformation, these claims must include a disclaimer to make the amount of scientific evidence clear.
Nutrient Content Claims
Nutrient content claims describe the level of a nutrient in the product using the words free, high, low, more, reduced, or lite.
Dietary supplements may use percentage levels to refer to ingredients without daily value (DV), such as "40% omega-3 fatty acids," which is not allowed for food products.
Structure/Function Claims
These claims describe the role of a nutrient or dietary ingredient on the human body. One example is "calcium builds stronger bones".
The FDA does not preapprove structure/function claims, although it requires a notification 30 days after first marketing the product. Additionally, the label must include a disclaimer that the FDA has not evaluated the claim and that the product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
For food products, these claims focus on the effects derived from the nutritional value of the food with established RDIs (Recommended Daily Intakes). In contrast, supplement function claims focus on non-nutritive and dietary effects of nutrients with or without established RDIs, allowing more flexibility. For example, the manufacturer can base the claim on polyphenols found in cranberries.
Dietary supplements can also use claims about nutrient deficiency such as vitamin C and scurvy or describing the effects of the supplement on general well-being.
Labeling Requirements for Food and Supplements
The facts panel provides all the relevant information about a product like serving size, servings per container, and dietary ingredients' names and quantities. The nutrition label also includes the %DV, showing how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to the daily total.
What are The Main Differences between Supplements and Nutrition Facts?
- Ingredients without RDIs or DVs, must be listed in the Supplement Facts Panel. This is not allowed in the Nutrition Facts.
- A Supplement Facts may list the source of an ingredient, while this is also not allowed in the Nutrition Facts.
- In the Supplement Facts, you must include the part of the plant from which a dietary ingredient is derived. A Nutrition Facts Panel, will not have this information.
- In the Supplement Facts, you can't list "zero" amounts of nutrients, but in the Nutrition Facts Panel, you often need to list "zero" amounts in the Nutrition Facts panel.
Voluntary Nutrients
Certain nutrients are optional on the label unless you make a claim about them or if the product supplements this nutrient. Examples are:
- Polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, sugar alcohol, and other carbohydrates.
- Vitamins and minerals other than vitamins D, calcium, iron, and potassium.
Additionally as stated earlier, dietary supplements may list non-dietary ingredients and ingredients that don't have a DV such as botanical extracts.
Supplement vs. Nutrition Fact Panels: Know the Difference
Dietary Supplement and Nutritional Facts Panels are mandatory on most food and dietary supplements.
Determining what is needed to comply with all of the rules and regulations may seem overwhelming. Our teams at Eurofins offer comprehensive nutritional analysis and labeling services for any product.
We can also assist you with other product label claims such as allergens, fat and cholesterol levels, vitamin levels, detection of genetically modified organisms, and contaminants. We have the expertise to advise you on FDA food label requirements for your products.
