EHPM is holding a Conference on “Quality and Safety in Food Supplements: from Farm to Fork” in the Sofitel Brussels Europe on Thursday, 20 April 2023. During the event, EHPM will launch the 3^rd edition of its Quality Guide for food supplements, a precious tool to support companies in ensuring high-quality and safety standards. The Conference will feature insightful interventions from the European Commission, national auditors and experts from the industry: an excellent occasion to discuss the main regulatory developments for food supplements in Europe.

Food supplements play an important role in consumers’ health and wellbeing within a balanced diet: they help people reach their optimal nutrition status and are able to reduce the risk factor of certain nutrition-related diseases. Food business operators (FBOs) are responsible for guaranteeing that the products they place on the European market are safe and truthful regarding their claimed benefits, as well as for ensuring that they comply with high-quality and safety standards and with the European legal framework.

The European Federation of Associations of Health Product Manufacturers (EHPM), created in 1975, is the voice of the food supplement sector in Europe. With its 14 National Associations and 11 Member Companies, EHPM represents approximately 1,600 health product manufacturers and distributors, the majority of whom are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in 17 European countries.

Quality and safety are closely interlinked and are the main aspects that FBOs must take into account when developing, producing, and marketing a product. Quality is not an ingredient that can be added somewhere through the production process. On the contrary, quality and safety standards should be there from the very beginning and constantly present at every and each stage of the production process, from the selection of the raw materials to the post-market stage: i.e. “from Farm to Fork”, which is the name of the European strategy at the core of the European Green Deal, aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and sustainable.

In order to support FBOs to comply with EU laws and ensure the production of high-quality and safe products, EHPM and its technical experts from the food supplement sector have developed in 2007 the first ever pan-European Quality Guide for food supplements. This guide represents a precious tool that supports companies in ensuring high-quality and safety standards, covering all aspects of production from product concept through to manufacturing, quality control, packaging, distribution and storage.

During its Conference on Quality and Safety in Food Supplements, EHPM will officially launch and present the 3^rd edition of its Quality Guide, which updates the overall quality requirements for food supplements and, importantly, incorporates a greatly enhanced section on the production of botanical food supplements, which have a rich history of safe use in Europe.

The EHPM Conference will be an excellent occasion to discuss and exchange about the European regulatory framework for food supplements from different perspectives. In fact, the Conference will feature insightful interventions from the European Commission’s DG SANTE Units A.1 “Anti Microbial Resistance, Human Nutrition” and E.2 “Food Processing Technologies and Novel Foods”. Participants will therefore have the chance to learn about the EU state of play of the food supplement dossiers, as well as the EU perspective and major developments regarding the Novel Food Regulation.

In addition, not only will the attendees have the chance to hear the experience from national auditors, with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland providing an overview of the food supplement controls in their country, but they will also hear from industry experts: Normec Foodcare will discuss the practical approach of quality guides to safety, compliance and quality. An overview of the trends and figures of the EU food supplement market will be given by IQVIA and EHPM will present its activities and commitments, including its proposal for a post-marketing vigilance system for food supplements, the ongoing work of the EHPM Task Force on Novel Foods and the links between the Quality Guide and the Novel Food Regulation.

The event will end with a round-table discussion “From policy making to product making” featuring the European Commission and experts from the food supplement sector, which will enable participants to engage in a debate with the Commission and the industry on the leading topics of the Conference.

Overall, the EHPM Conference on Quality and Safety in Food Supplements will be a valuable event for all actors involved in the food supplement sector. By bringing together European and National Authorities, industry experts and EU stakeholders, this Conference will be the occasion to discuss the ongoing regulatory developments for food supplements in Europe and engage in a constructive dialogue between European and National Institutions, industry experts and stakeholders.

Have a look at the Conference’s programme here.