Selling food supplements on Amazon UK: claims, labels and the rules that keep listings live

Supplement listings attract more compliance problems than almost any other category we work in, and almost all of them come from the same place: words. A capsule of vitamin D is a food. Describe it the wrong way and, in the regulator’s eyes, it can become an unlicensed medicine. Describe it in words that aren’t on the authorised list and you breach food law and Amazon’s policies, even if every word is true.

This guide sets out who regulates what, which claims are allowed, what Amazon requires before you list, and a routine for checking every place a claim can appear.

Who regulates what

The legal definition matters. The Food Standards Agency defines a food supplement as a food whose purpose is to supplement the normal diet, which is “a concentrated source of a vitamin or mineral or other substance with a nutritional or physiological effect” and is sold in dose form. In England the main rules are the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 and the Food Information Regulations 2014, with equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland⁷.

When a supplement becomes a medicine

The MHRA decides whether a product is a medicine by looking at¹:

• the claims made about what it does, explicit and implicit;
• the pharmacological, metabolic or immunological properties of its ingredients, including herbal ones;
• its primary intended purpose and how consumers use it;
• whether similar licensed or registered products are on the market;
• how it is presented to the public “through labelling, packaging, promotional literature, advertisements, websites, social media and customer reviews”.

Supplements of familiar substances such as vitamins, amino acids or minerals are “generally subject to food safety and food labelling legislation rather than medicines control unless presented for medicinal uses”, and herbal or “natural” ingredients do not stop a product being a medicine¹.

The MHRA’s longer guidance adds detail that matters on Amazon²:

• Implied claims count, including product names. A name that suggests a condition can be a claim in itself.
• Customer reviews count. Its example is a joint supplement whose review says “I have been using this product for less than a month and am now pain free”. Reviews like that, it says, are “likely to bring the products within the definition of a medicine if they remain in the public domain”. A star rating on its own is not a problem.
• Wording. The MHRA’s view is that food supplements should not refer to consumers as “patients” or refer to nutritional deficiencies, and that phrases such as “or as directed by your healthcare professional” can imply a medical purpose and are discouraged.
• Packaging. The words “Food Supplement” should be clearly shown, and the pack should look distinct from a licensed medicine.

On Amazon you don’t control the review system, so you cannot simply switch reviews off as a brand might on its own website. Monitor reviews on supplement listings, never quote medicinal reviews in your own content, and take advice if a pattern of medicinal reviews builds up.

The claims you are allowed to make

Disease claims: never

Amazon’s UK policy is direct: “Do not claim that a food supplement is able to help prevent, treat or cure human disease, and do not refer to an ability to do so. Such claims are medicinal and are never permitted for food supplements.“³ The ASA takes the same line in advertising, and has ruled against supplement ads that claimed to treat or prevent conditions including influenza, anxiety and even hangovers⁸.

Specific health claims: only from the register

A health claim is “any claim that states, suggests or implies that a relationship exists between a food category, a food or one of its constituents and health”, such as “calcium helps maintain normal bones"⁶. In Great Britain, only claims authorised on the GB nutrition and health claims register may be used⁵. Amazon applies the same rule to listings for Great Britain; for Northern Ireland, the EU register continues to apply⁴.

Four rules decide whether a claim on the register is being used properly⁸:

1. Same meaning. The wording can differ slightly from the register, but it must mean the same to consumers. If the authorised claim says an ingredient “supports the normal function of X”, you cannot say it “improves X”.
2. The nutrient, not the product. The claim must be made for the nutrient or ingredient it was authorised for. Swapping the nutrient’s name for your product’s name is not acceptable.
3. Conditions of use. You must hold evidence that the product contains enough of the nutrient to meet the claim’s conditions of use.
4. Testimonials are your responsibility. Customer quotes you choose to use in your marketing must comply too.

General claims: only with a specific one

Words such as “superfood”, “full of goodness”, “detox”, “detoxifier”, “wholesome”, “well-being” and “restores balance” are general health claims⁸⁹. They are not banned, but they may only be used when accompanied by a relevant authorised specific claim, and the ASA has ruled that the specific claim should appear next to or immediately after the general one⁸. Amazon gives its own example: a supplement called a “superfood” must explain, with a specific authorised claim, why it is beneficial³.

Claims the law rules out altogether

Some health claims are not allowed on food at all: claims that health could be affected by not consuming the food, claims about the rate or amount of weight loss, and claims that refer to recommendations of individual doctors or health professionals⁶. Brand names and trade marks are not exempt: if a name implies a nutrition or health claim, it must be accompanied by a related authorised claim⁶.

What Amazon requires before you list

Amazon’s UK food supplements page sets out five requirements to sell³:

1. New, compliant products with a valid, registered barcode.
2. Approval to sell food supplements in the UK store.
3. The correct product type within the Health and Personal Care inventory file template.
4. Required food information, following Amazon’s instructions for food products.
5. A compliance document for the manufacturer of the ASIN: a GFSI-recognised certificate, a HACCP certificate, or a GMP certificate, from an accredited third-party certification body where stated, with a valid expiry date and information about the scope or purpose of the product.

Amazon also lists label requirements, which mirror the Food Standards Agency’s³⁷. The label must say “food supplement”, not “dietary supplement”, and must include the business name and address, a use-by or best-before date, the recommended daily portion with a warning not to exceed it, a statement that supplements should not replace a varied diet, an instruction to store out of reach of young children, the amount of each vitamin, mineral or other active substance per daily portion, and an ingredients list with allergens emphasised. Imported supplements may need relabelling or reformulating.

On ingredients, Amazon says you must not sell supplements containing unauthorised vitamins, minerals, additives or flavourings, medicinal ingredients, unauthorised novel foods or banned ingredients, and that vitamin and mineral levels must stay within safe upper limits. It also advises contacting the MHRA before launch to check whether a product, an ingredient or a claim is considered medicinal³.

Amazon says violations of its claims policy “may result in product removal, listing restrictions and account penalties"⁴. In a large catalogue, repeated policy problems also weigh on account health; our guide to running a complex Amazon account explains how Amazon’s Account Health Rating works.

Where claims hide on an Amazon listing

When we audit a supplement listing, most problems are not in the bullet points the brand wrote last week. They are in the places nobody re-reads. Our checklist:

Run the text through our free listing checker for Amazon’s basic rules: it flags prohibited characters, promotional phrases and restricted wording such as “anti-bacterial”, but it cannot judge a health claim against the register. For the general listing rules, including the 75-character title limit, see our listing optimisation guide.

A compliance routine that holds up

1. Keep a claims file per product. For every health statement, record the register entry it relies on, the conditions of use and the evidence that the product meets them.
2. Approve claims once, centrally. Store approved wording in your master product data and copy it from there into Amazon, your website and creator briefs, so the same words appear everywhere.
3. Re-check when anything changes: a reformulation, a new pack, a new market, or an update to the GB register.
4. Brief creators and agencies in writing. Off-Amazon content that links to your listing is part of how the product is presented.
5. Review monthly: new reviews, new customer questions, and any listing changes Amazon or another seller has made.
6. Know where to ask. The MHRA gives advice when a seller is unsure whether a product is a medicine¹; your local authority enforces food law⁶; and the ASA’s Copy Advice team gives bespoke advice on non-broadcast ads⁸.

Compliant supplement listings can still sell well. The work is in finding words that are both permitted and persuasive: the authorised claim for each nutrient, stated clearly, alongside honest information about the dose, the form, the sourcing and how to take it. That combination tends to read as more credible to shoppers than the miracle language it replaces.