From consumer trust to winning over the authorities: Expert panel answers why food supplements should be invested in science

Yet, there have been recent cases where companies have allegedly failed to do so. A recent study​ found that 18 commercially available nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplements sold in Singapore did not meet label claims, with investigators describing the results as "shocking". ​

The issue of product quality and science was brought up by a group of industry experts coming from nutraceutical brands, suppliers, academia, and industry association on the last day of the Growth Asia Summit 2024, which happened in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands between July 16 and 18.

The panel included Dr Kalpana Bhaskaran, head for the Centre of Applied Nutrition Services and the Glycemic Index Research Unit at Temasek Polytechnic, Hui Cheng Chong, APAC dietary supplements segment lead at dsm-firmenich, Jesse Gu, head of sales and marketing at BYHEALTH International, Prof Peter Howe, emeritus professor at The University of Newcastle, Australia, and Daniel Quek, executive director at ASEAN Alliance of Health Supplement Associations (AAHSA).

They were discussing the topic “Ageing Asia: Opportunities for innovation, new product development, and research” moderated by Gary Scattergood, editor-in-chief of NutraIngredients-Asia ​and FoodNavigator-Asia. ​

One of the key points brought up was that consumers rely largely on brands in making sure that their products were backed by science. 

“Consumers are not proactively looking for the scientific backing. They assume that these studies have already been done…C​onsumers are probably using the brands as proxies of scientific research,​”​ said Chong from dsm-firmenich, when asked the extent to which consumers see science-backed research as important.

“At dsm-firmenich, the company is backed by science, and so many of our products not only deliver safe and quality innovations, but also clinical studies to understand the mode of actions to ensure that they deliver the benefits,”​ she added.  

Coming from the standpoint of a finished product brand, Gu said that scientific backing was crucial as it formed the basis of product marketing.

“S​cience-backed nutrition is very important for brands and products…If you think from a marketing perspective, if your product and brand are backed by strong science, you have a lot of content to create and educate the consumers.​

“For example, we constantly invest money on Douyin, Tmall, JD, and these on-platform marketing materials all require science-based educational materials, so it's definitely very important that the products and brands are backed by strong science,”​ she said.

However, the industry is still grappling with bad players that are undermining nutraceuticals’ repute with products that do not meet label claims.

Working with Professor Andrea Maier, co-director of Centre for Healthy Longevity who initiated the testing of commercially available NMN supplements, Dr Bhaskaran, who conducted the testing with her team, said she was “shocked” ​by the results.

“We received 60 to 80 samples from Prof Andrea's team. We cannot disclose the brand names out of confidentiality, but some of them are top-performing brands. ​

“To our shock, some of them have nothing, no active ingredient, and almost 50 per cent of them had only 40 per cent of the ingredients that they claim to contain. ​

“And these are not cheap supplements, they are very expensive. It's actually very sad that consumers are paying for something when they are just eating maybe an excipient,” ​she said.

Representing the ASEAN supplement associations, Quek highlighted ways to address the issue and for the industry to advance forward.

One is to advise consumers to purchase from reliable sources.

“This is our key message, and usually, if you go to a reliable source, you will get the quality that you expect.”​

The second is to work with national and regional governments to bring nutraceuticals into their preventive healthcare agenda.

“For example, the industry could take existing literature that is out there on specific supplements that show how the use of these supplements can reduce the medical costs for individuals and for governments.​ ​

“We are trying to advocate for this type of research, and it gels nicely with the ASEAN health development agenda, where ASEAN is trying to find a way to promote sustainable healthcare,” ​he said.  ​

Public, private, academia ​

On top of public-private partnership, the academia plays a part by advancing new scientific discoveries and research.

An example is how Swisse has managed to secure a higher-level health claim​ for its krill oil supplement in Australia by partnering both its supplier firm Aker BioMarine and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

“I still see major gaps and great opportunities between bringing new research and translating what we've got [into the commercial space],” ​said Prof Howe.

He added that there needed to be enduring partnership to keep new findings on the radar and visible.

An example is the proven benefits of resveratrol.

“We've published in top international journals the primary and secondary outcomes [of resveratrol supplementation], but somehow, they are buried. ​

“And so​ I think it's important to also recognise that those partnerships need to be enduring and there needs to be continuing dialogue.”  ​

What’s trending ​

Eye health has emerged as one of the top concerns in Asia-Pacific, said Chong, citing consumer research from her firm dsm-firmenich.

Immune health remains a key concern, alongside weight management, she said.

Identifying top health concerns is just a part of the equation.

To help consumers take in the right nutrients, firms should also know how to incorporate products seamlessly into consumers' daily habits.

A way to do so could be including the products into the daily Southeast Asian diets, she said, citing the example of Nestle’s launch of a sprinkle powder to regulate post-meal blood glucose spikes in Malaysia.

In terms of research, Dr Bhaskaran said that there has been an increasing number of grants approved for healthy ingredient development, especially for healthy ageing.

“More and more grants are geared towards nutrition, when you look at the healthy ingredient development scheme of Singapore, the government gives up to 500k dollars which promote food product development in the ageing space. ​

“We are looking at two spectrums, one is ageing, the other is children, because both are precious in Singapore,”​ she said.