Herbal Supplement Popularity Grows Despite State Officials' Doubts
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
The popularity of botanical and herbal supplements increased to 39% of users in 2017 despite state litigators’ enforcement against ingredients in products and their push for DNA barcode testing, the Council for Responsible Nutrition finds in its annual survey.
State officials' enforcement against botanical and herbal dietary supplements over the past two years hasn’t tarnished the products' reputation among consumers as an annual Council for Responsible Nutrition survey finds more supplement users turning to the products every year since 2014.
Of US consumers using dietary supplements, 39% are taking botanical and herbal products such as green tea, cranberry, garlic, ginseng, turmeric, gingko biloba and echinacea, up from 36% in 2016, according to recently released CRN's survey results.
The trade group has commissioned the survey annually since 2000. The 2017 research, an online survey conducted Aug. 24-28 by Ipsos Public Affairs, included a national sample of 2,001 US adults 18 and older, including 1,528 supplement users.
The increase in botanical/herbal supplement use builds on growth noted from 2014, when 26% of US adult supplement users took herbals and botanicals, to 2015, when the figure jumped to 31%.
The growing popularity comes despite an investigation by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who accused retailers in 2015 of selling herbal supplements labeled with ingredients that were not found in DNA testing. Schneiderman has sought to make DNA barcoding the standard for supplement ingredient testing and prosecutors in Connecticut and Indiana joined him in a commission to promote the requirement in their states. (Also see "N.Y. Herbal Ingredient Testing Got Lost In DNA Swamp – Industry Report" - Pink Sheet, 12 Mar, 2015.)
Consumer Confidence Up
Marketers of botanicals and herbal supplements feared marketplace fallout from the states' actions, yet two and a half years later, CRN’s survey shows the controversy hasn’t swayed consumers already taking supplements.
“We do survey the levels of confidence in various categories, and confidence [in herbals and botanicals] has been increasing. We don’t see that the AG’s aftermath of that as a negative impact,” said Nancy Weindruch, CRN's communications vice president in an interview.
The survey also queried overall confidence in supplements among the general population, showing 87% of US adults have confidence in the safety, quality and effectiveness of supplements and 76% “perceive the dietary supplement industry as trustworthy,” a 3% increase from the 2016 survey results (see chart).
Consumer Trust Steady For Supplement Products
CRN queried the general US population's overall confidence in dietary supplements in its 2017 survey.
Council for Responsible Nutrition 2017 survey
The industry says the DNA testing Schneiderman's staff employed was inappropriate for the ingredient types and that FDA’s 2007 supplement good manufacturing practices final rule impose appropriate testing requirements. Nonetheless, the enforcement led to the product recalls and compelled manufacturers that supplied the products to enter settlements with attorneys general in New York and other states. (Also see "State AGs Out Of Their Bailiwick Testing Supplement Ingredient Identities" - HBW Insight, 22 Sep, 2016.)
Multivitamins Remain At Top
Breaking down specific botanical/herbal products, the survey found products maintaining or growing in popularity among supplement consumers. CRN's survey also found an all-time high for use of supplements among all consumers polled, with 76% stating they take the products, up 5% from 2016.
The results extrapolate to showing more than 170m US consumers take supplements, according to CRN. Multivitamins are most popular among those consumers, 73%, followed by vitamin D at 37% and vitamin C at 32% (see chart).
“We are seeing more and more consumers looking to alternate options, more integrative medical approaches. They are tired of just getting prescription drugs and are looking for alternatives,” Weindruch said.
Protein, Probiotic Usage Climbs
Multivitamins remain the most popular supplements while protein and probiotic usage is climbing among US consumers.
Council for Responsible Nutrition 2017 survey
Additionally, Weindruch expects that supplement use is spreading as more consumers learn of the benefits largely through wellness-related classes and activities, such as from dieticians and word-of-mouth in yoga classes, acupuncture centers and other places that promote alternative approaches to conventional medicine.
The survey also revealed the influence of doctors’ recommendations to consumers not already using supplements: 45% of those consumer surveyed say they might consider using supplements under a doctor's recommendation.
Overall health and wellness remains the top reason for taking supplements, identified by 46% of supplement users surveyed, followed by filling nutritional gaps at 30%; boosting energy 28%; immune system support 24%; bone health 23%; heart health 22%; and healthy aging 21% as other reasons.
Supplements have a role in the emerging self-care trend in the US as rising health care costs drive consumers to non-drug remedies and policy-makers to consider alternative options for improving public health and preventing disease with proper nutrition. In pharmacies, where Rx margins are shrinking, many pharmacists are looking to increase sales of consumer health care products – including supplements and OTC drugs – at the front of stores. (Also see "Independent Pharmacies Stock Growth Opportunities In Health, Wellness And Beauty Aisles" - HBW Insight, 29 Aug, 2017.)
rom the editors of the Tan Sheet. Our dietary supplement industry coverage now is published in the Rose Sheet, with articles email to readers daily and available on this page of the Rose Sheet website.