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Selling Food Supplements Online in the EU: Key Compliance Requirements in 2026

From reference intakes to health claims, a clear look at what food business operators can repeat on the front of the pack and the rules that apply when they do. 

What does selling food supplements online in the EU involve?

Selling food supplements online in the EU is subject to the same food law as selling them in a pharmacy or shop.. The product must be safe and correctly composed, and its label must meet both the Food Supplements Directive and the general food labelling rules. In addition, the product page must show most of the mandatory label information before the customer completes the purchase.

This article sets out the key EU food supplement regulations in 2026 and what online food supplement compliance means in practice for brand owners, importers and online retailers.

EU food supplement regulations 2026: the legal framework

Under Directive 2002/46/EC, food supplements are foodstuffs intended to supplement the normal diet. They are concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, sold pre-packaged and in dose form such as capsules, tablets, sachets of powder, ampoules or drop bottles. Products presented as medicines fall outside this definition and are regulated as medicinal products.

The main EU acts that apply to food supplement ecommerce compliance are:

Legal actWhat it covers
Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 (General Food Law)Food safety, FBO responsibility, traceability
Directive 2002/46/ECDefinition, permitted vitamins and minerals, specific labelling, national notification
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (FIC Regulation)General labelling, distance selling, fair information practices
Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006Nutrition and health claims
Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006Other substances that are prohibited, restricted or under scrutiny. This Regulation generally does not apply to food supplements as regards vitamin/mineral fortification, which is covered by Directive 2002/46/EC, but Annex III is relevant for supplement ingredients.
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004Food hygiene (GMP/HACCP requirements for food business operators)
Regulation (EU) 2015/2283Novel foods

Because the Directive is transposed into national law, several aspects are still regulated at Member State level. Most importantly, EU-wide maximum amounts of vitamins and minerals have not been set. The European Commission states that no proposal has been presented so far, given the complexity of the issue and divergent views (European Commission). National maximum levels therefore – where regulated –  continue to apply.

Before you sell: registration and national notification

FBO registration. Online sellers must identify as EU based food business operators like any other brand. Furthermore, EU FBOs must be registered with the competent authority where it is based, including when it sells only through a website or marketplace. Some competent authorities require an additional registration for FBOs marketing products within their territory, even when the operator is established in another EU Member State.

National notification. Article 10 of Directive 2002/46/EC allows Member States to require notification of a food supplement before it is placed on their market, by sending a predefined set of documentation to the competent authority. Many Member States use this option, and procedures, fees and timelines differ. As a website often reaches consumers in several countries, notification should be checked for each Member State you actively target.

Language. Mandatory food information must be provided in a language easily understood by consumers in each Member State where the product is marketed. A Member State requires its official language(s). For an online shop serving several countries, this applies to both the label and the product page.

Food Business Operator. The label must show the name and address of the FBO under whose name the product is marketed or, if that manufacturer is outside the EU, of the EU importer or of a properly identified EU based operator.

Labelling requirements specific to food supplements

On top of the general particulars required by the FIC Regulation (name, ingredients, allergens, net quantity, durability date, FBO details and others), Article 6 of Directive 2002/46/EC requires the label of a food supplement to show:

  • the name of the product as “food supplement”;
  • the names of the categories of nutrients or substances that characterise the product, or an indication of their nature;
  • the portion recommended for daily consumption;
  • a warning not to exceed the stated recommended daily dose;
  • a statement that food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied diet;
  • a statement that the product should be stored out of the reach of young children.

The amounts of nutrients and other substances must be declared in numerical form per recommended daily portion. Vitamins and minerals must also be expressed as a percentage of the EU reference values.

Food supplements are not subject to the standard nutrition declaration table that applies to most prepacked foods. Instead, the declaration rules of the Directive apply.

The labelling, presentation and advertising of a food supplement must not:

  • attribute to it the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or refer to such properties;
  • state or imply that a balanced and varied diet cannot provide appropriate quantities of nutrients in general.

Food supplement ecommerce compliance: what the product page must show

Article 14 of the FIC Regulation sets two moments at which the consumer must have access to the mandatory information.

Before the purchase is concluded. All mandatory particulars, except the date of minimum durability or “use by” date, must be available on the website or by other appropriate means clearly identified by the FBO. This information must be provided free of charge.

At the moment of delivery. All mandatory particulars, including the date, must be available, normally on the label of the product delivered.

For a food supplement, the product page therefore needs to show the ingredients with allergens, the net quantity, the FBO details, the recommended daily dose, the amounts per daily portion and the mandatory warnings and statements required by the Directive. We recommend publishing this information as text on the page, rather than relying only on photos of the pack that may be hard to read on a phone.

Claims on product pages, ads and social media

The rules on presentation and advertising apply online in the same way as on the label. Product descriptions, banners, marketplace listings and social media posts must not suggest that the product prevents, treats or cures a disease.

Nutrition and health claims may only be used if they are authorised under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, listed in the EU Register of nutrition and health claims, and used under their conditions of use.

Ingredients: what you may use in 2026

Vitamins and minerals. Only the vitamins and minerals listed in Annex I of Directive 2002/46/EC, in the forms listed in Annex II, may be used. The list is updated from time to time. The most recent change, Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/2224, added the monosodium salt of L-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid as a source of folate in food supplements. It has applied since 26 November 2025.

Other substances. Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 lists substances whose use in foods, including food supplements, is prohibited (Part A), restricted (Part B) or under Union scrutiny (Part C). According to the European Commission, measures taken so far cover, among others:

  • Ephedra herb and its preparations, which are prohibited;
  • yohimbe bark and its preparations, which are prohibited;
  • certain hydroxyanthracene derivatives, such as aloe-emodin, emodin and danthron, which are prohibited;
  • green tea extracts containing EGCG, where the daily portion must contain less than 800 mg of EGCG and the label must carry specific warnings;
  • monacolins from red yeast rice, whose use is restricted.

The Commission has also started the same procedure for alpha-lipoic acid in food supplements, and EFSA has been asked for a safety opinion. Sellers using this ingredient should follow the outcome closely.

Novel foods. Ingredients that were not consumed to a significant degree in the EU before 15 May 1997 need authorisation under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 before they can be sold. Unauthorised novel foods are one of the most common findings in online controls (see below).

Ingredients regulated at national level. With only certain aspects of the food supplement regulatory framework being harmonised across the EU, Member States may still adopt national rules for certain ingredients, particularly botanicals. Consequently, countries such as France and Italy maintain positive lists specifying the herbal ingredients that are permitted for use in food supplements.

Online food supplement compliance checklist

  1. Confirm the product meets the EU definition of a food supplement 
  2. Check that every vitamin and mineral, and its form, is on the EU permitted lists, and that amounts respect national maximum levels in each target market.
  3. Screen all other ingredients against Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 and the Union list of novel foods.
  4. Verify the requirement of each member state and the ingredients banned at national level. 
  5. Register your business with the competent authority and complete the national notification in each Member State you target.
  6. Prepare the label in the required languages, with all particulars from the FIC Regulation and Article 6 of Directive 2002/46/EC, and additional warnings required at national level where applicable.
  7. Publish the same mandatory information on each product page, free of charge, before checkout.
  8. Review product descriptions, ads and social media posts: only authorised claims, no disease-related statements.
  9. Repeat the review whenever ingredients, target markets or EU rules change.

How can Obelis support you?

Obelis supports brands and online sellers in placing food supplements on the EU market. Our team can review your formulations against EU and national requirements, check labels and product pages, handle food supplement notifications in the Member States you target, and act as your EU based FBO for products sold exclusively online. 

Planning to start selling food supplements online in the EU? Contact our team to discuss your products and markets.

References

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