Foods supplements. Quality assessment of formulations by expert panel

In Europe, food supplements are classified as foodstuffs and regulated by Directive 2002/46/EC. They are a concentrated source of nutrients (e.g., vitamins, amino acids, minerals, etc.) or bioactive compounds extracted from plants or herbs. The Italian market of food supplements is showing rapid growth, especially through B2C e-commerce. However, it is highly competitive and fragmented. No single company has an adequate influence to lead the industry in a specific direction, and countless formulations are listed in the "National Register of Food Supplements". Quality products can therefore be the key to a competitive advantage. In this study, the biological-nutritional quality of 22 product formulations of an Italian start-up, MyLab Nutrition Group, was evaluated by a panel of 7 experts recruited through a public competition and led by a coordinator. The products were compared with the best seller in the category or the standard of care used by the participants, using the Likert scale as a quality indicator. The average score given by the panel for the products was 3.8 ± 1.1. This result showed that the products of the start-up are highly comparable with those on the market, confirming their competitiveness with the leading Italian brands.