Legislation and registration requirements
In the UK, food supplements are required to be regulated as foods and are subject to the provisions of food law. Food law is a comprehensive, wide catalogue of legal requirements that a Food Business Operator (FBO) must comply with. There are specific requirements for food supplements in addition to the General Food Law Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 and to other legislation that may also be applicable. In Northern Ireland, food supplements are regulated by EU legislation as well as domestic legislation.
Food supplements themselves do not require a licence or government approval to be sold in the UK. However, anyone producing, importing, or selling food supplements must register as a Food Business Operator with their local authority and ensure that they are adhering to food safety laws. Compliance with these laws will be checked at food safety inspections and it is the responsibility of the Food Business Operators selling these products to ensure compliance.
Further information regarding food supplements and what you need to do as a business to sell them can be found on the Food Standard Agency’s Food supplements webpage as well as on the Department of Health and Social Care’s food supplement use and labels webpage. If your business is based in Scotland, you can find guidance on starting a new food business.
In the UK, there is no maximum legal limit for caffeine when used within food supplements.
There are, however, maximum permitted limits for caffeine set in legislation when used as a flavouring in certain foods or drinks found in assimilated Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008.
There are also specific labelling requirements for food and drink containing caffeine which can be found in Annex III of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the Provision of Food Information to Consumers in Northern Ireland as well as Annex III of the assimilated Regulation (EU) No.1169/2011 in GB.
Further information regarding labelling requirements for products containing caffeine can be found on Food labelling: giving food information to consumers.
Important note:
It is your responsibility to ensure food supplements you sell are safe for human consumption. It is an offence under the Food Safety Act 1990 to render food injurious to health.
Under the Food Safety Act 1990 food which fails to comply with food safety requirements may be seized and destroyed, at the expense of the food business operator.
The factors which determine whether food is “unsafe” or “injurious to health” are set out in article 14 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002.