Situation of Food Supplements in Spain
It is increasingly common to find in the Spanish market various food supplements different from the classic ones composed by multivitamins and multimineral that we are used to. So, a few years ago, they are booming food supplements based on herbal, fish oil, krill oil, collagen, monacolin K from red yeast rice, glucomannan konjac, Coenzyme Q10, astaxanthin, prebiotics and probiotics, amino acids such as tryptophan, etc.
Despite this fact, the Spanish legislation on food supplements (Real Decreto 1487/2009) limits the composition of those to vitamins and minerals listed in Annex I of the mentioned Real Decreto and, therefore, is not possible, nowadays, to notify in our country food supplements whose composition is different from the vitamins and / or minerals specifically listed in the regulation or harmonized substances (eg novel foods authorized at European level for specific use in food supplements, like krill oil).
The gateway to our country of this type of food supplements with substances other than vitamins and minerals or harmonized ingredients, is the application of the principle of mutual recognition, through accreditation as the food supplement in question has been notified and / or accepted in another Member State.
Mérieux NutriSciences offers the possibility of assessing the legal adequacy of the composition of food supplements in Spain and several Member States, including dosage of additives used, the legal adequacy of labeling, including the review of nutrition and health claims that could be included, and notification to the competent authorities in Spain and other Member States, of the placing on the market thereof.
Source: Mérieux Nutrisciences Spain