It is estimated that there may be in excess of 400 other substances with nutritional or physiological effect on the EU market in food supplements. The categorisation and characterisation of substances:
- Other substances: substances other than vitamins and minerals, ie
- Botanicals and other bioactive substances;
- Botanicals: includes herbs, plants, fungi, algae and extracts
- Other bioactive substances: any substance with a nutritional or physiological effect, other than vitamins, minerals and botanicals.
Six categories were identified and 31 substances were chosen for evaluation. The categories and substances are presented in the next Table 2.2.4.
| Categories | Substances |
|---|---|
| Amino acids |
|
| Enzymes |
|
| Pre- and Probiotics |
|
| Essential fatty acids |
|
| Botanicals & botanical extracts |
|
| Miscellaneous bioactive substances |
|
Since there is no legal categorization of other substances currently used in food supplement products in the EU, the above categorization was made based on defined biochemical classes of molecules (e.g. amino acids, enzymes and fatty acids), or on their nature and origin (e.g. botanicals, extracts, oils etc). In addition, commonly used terms such as pro- and prebiotics characterizing specific ingredient categories were taken into consideration. There is always potential overlap between the categories. For example, although borage is a botanical, borage oil falls within the fatty acids' category. It is important to highlight that herbal oils classified under the "essential fatty acids" category do not refer to essential oils but only to commonly extracted oils. The substances in each category were chosen based on their significance in the EU food supplement market and/or the extent to which they could illustrate effectively the different regulatory approaches taken by the Member States.