Communicate the role food supplements play As Executive Director of IADSA (International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations), Simon Pettman takes an in-depth look at the consequences of the Covid crisis on the food supplements sector. In particular on the need to have the value of supplementation recognised in the world. Actif’s Mag: How does the global dietary supplements in society. We have therefore developed further our “Mind the market has gone through the unprecedented period we Gap” series, which provides clear and easy to understand com- lived in 2020 and are still living ? Globally speaking, was munications around important ingredients or areas. Given how this health crisis an opportunity for dietary supplements much time all of us are now spending on our computers and to become more established as a health product ? phones, our story “The Dark Side of Blue Light” on the role of lu- Simon Pettman: The supplement sector has not only shown tein and zeaxanthin to help maintain eye health in the face of the itself to be resilient through this crisis, but also shown its value blue light being emitted from screens, has been extremely val- both to individuals and to society as a whole. Across the world, uable for both the sector and decision makers in government*. increasing numbers of consumers have integrated supplements into their ‘kits’ to keep themselves healthy. The global market Actif’s Mag: What are the main challenges dietary for supplements has responded to this by continuing to grow in supplements are facing now? 2020, by more than 10% for products positioned for immunity, Simon Pettman: There are three main challenges. according to Euromonitor. In 2020, this means that the global First, working to ensure that governments take a fresh look at supplement sector was worth more than USD 115 bn, which is nutrition solutions to increase the resilience of their societies. comparable to global OTC pharmaceutical market. Over the past decade, the primary focus has been on obesi- COVID has accelerated the thinking on the link between nutri- ty and cardiovascular disease. But the pandemic has shown tion and health in a number of countries. In Turkey, for example, clearly that good nutrition lies at the heart of a resilient pop- the government’s scientific panel of experts advocated strongly ulation, and for many, supplements should be a part of their for the public to increase their use of supplements. However, balanced diet. in most countries government policy changes slowly and cau- Second, the completion of regional and global initiatives to tiously and we hope that the volume of scientific research that harmonise key regulation. Excellent work has been done, but has been kickstarted by COVID can demonstrate results that will the pandemic has, in some cases, slowed this down. It is im- continue to build confidence in our sector. However, COVID portant that the momentum achieved can be maintained. has also highlighted that populations across the world are often Finally, eradicating bad actors and bad practice from the mar- deficient in a number of micronutrients, such as vitamin D. ket. While the vast majority of the sector operates ethically and within the rules, there is a small group who aim to make a quick Actif’s Mag: Except the Covid crisis, what were the main profit through outrageous claims for products or marketing il- topics/projects you worked on from mid-2019 to end legal drug ingredients as supplements. These people have no 2020? place in the supplement sector and we support all governments Simon Pettman: Regional harmonisation has continued to be who take forceful and effective action against them. an important priority for IADSA. In addition to watching close- ly the evolution of regulation in the European Union, we have Actif’s Mag: How could IADSA help this industry to face worked on the harmonisation processes in ASEAN (which is its challenges ? close to completion), in the Eurasian Union (composed of Russia Simon Pettman: We continue to work with our membership and other countries in the CIS region) and on the Pacific Alliance and governments directly to address all the issues above and harmonisation process in Latin America. Harmonisation is al- help build a dynamic market. Importantly, our initiatives are ways an opportunity to build a better regulatory system and also focussed on working to find solutions that can overcome obsta- to connect with high level politicians and policy makers. In addi- cles, whether in the market, regulation or policy. • tion to our work on regulatory issues across the world, it is vital for the industry to work hard to communicate the role we play Comments collected by Philippe Millet stekraM — séhcraMNAMTTEP NOMIS WEIVRETNI- 63 -