Suplementos alimentares: exemplos, mercado, legislação

Abstract

Healthy eating is essential for maintaining people's lives. The Food Guide defines healthy eating as accessible to all people, with a variety of options, traditionally used preparations, harmonization of quantity and quality, natural coloring and health safety. Due to lack of adherence to a healthy diet, there is a need to consume functional foods, with claims of functional properties and food supplements. Functional foods can provide, in addition to basic nutrients for the diet, beneficial health effects through one or more bioactive compounds. Food supplements also have bioactive substances, but in a concentrated form, in order to complement the diet and maximize the intake of these compounds, in order to maintain health, prevent diseases, balance diets, improve appearance and well-being and increase sports performance. While functional foods are marketed in traditional food formats, dietary supplements come in pharmaceutical forms as powdered products, pills, tablets, capsules or liquids in measured doses. With the growing development of the health and wellness market, this work aims to help in the main gaps that still exist in this food category. Clarify the benefits of food supplements, punctuate scientific evidence of ingredients with bioactive substances and identify opportunities for innovation by monitoring current legislation, identifying consumer profiles and market trends for food supplements. The information obtained for this work was collected through a bibliographic review, with the survey of scientific studies of the main ingredients of food supplements and research in news. It is noted that there is a potential for growth in this food sector, both in the innovation of products and functionalities, as well as in the expansion of food industries and improvement of research for new ingredients and bioactive compounds.