Is protein powder good for you? What a GB label may claim
Is protein powder good for you? A GB label may say only what the claims register allows: four authorised protein claims, and the whey lines refused.
Supple Times — UK supplements, read before you buy
The latest
Can I bring melatonin into the UK from abroad? The rules
gov.uk's travel-medicine conditions, the controlled drugs list and the NHS prescription-only status, read on 20 September 2026 and set side by side.
Do sleep gummies in the UK contain melatonin? Reviewed
No. The two UK-sold sleep gummies this desk read list no melatonin, which the NHS calls a prescription-only medicine. Their panels, side by side.
Is melatonin a food supplement or a medicine in the UK?
Melatonin is prescription-only in the UK, yet the GB claims register records two authorised food claims for it. Both documents read on 11 September 2026.
Creatine gummies versus creatine monohydrate powder, reviewed on what survives the format
The sports shelf now sells the same molecule two ways. Reviewed on the chemistry that decides whether the label figure reaches you, and on the one creatine wording the GB register records as non-authorised.
A third ruling against the same patch company, and section 15 is not the section it breaches
The ASA upheld both issues against a paid Instagram ad for a Dopamine Patch on 2 September. The rules it cited are worth reading closely, and so is the one it did not.
Herbal THRs versus food supplements, reviewed on what the registration proves
One shelf carries herbal products with a genuine MHRA registration number. The next carries the same plants sold as food. Reviewed on what a traditional herbal registration establishes, and what it conspicuously does not.
The MHRA drew a microbiome line, and the probiotics shelf sits outside it
A position paper published on 18 August places microbiome-based medicines inside the medicines framework and puts food supplements and non-therapeutic probiotics expressly out of scope.
Vitamin D oral sprays versus tablets, reviewed on what may be claimed
The spray format sells delivery rather than dose. An Advertising Standards Authority ruling in June measured that pitch against the evidence filed for it, and the result reframes the comparison.
Applied Nutrition's GLP-1 Friendly range, read as a label
A five-product British range named after a class of prescription medicine. Assessed on what the panels publish, what the claims framework permits, and where the collection's own name sits.
Kenari nuts, and what an authorisation with conditions decides
An open Food Standards Agency consultation on one traditional food is a rare chance to watch the machinery that decides which ingredients may lawfully be sold here at all.
Magnesium supplements, reviewed — form matters more than milligrams
Two products stating the same magnesium content can be quite different purchases. Reviewed on elemental content, salt form, and the authorised claims that actually apply.
Vitamin D remains the UK's one standing supplement recommendation
Most of this shelf exists without any public-health body suggesting anyone needs it. Vitamin D is the exception, and the advice is more specific than the marketing around it.
Own-brand multivitamins, reviewed against the claims rules
Supermarket and pharmacy own-label multivitamins cost a fraction of the branded shelf. Reviewed on nutrient reference values, permitted claims, and what the premium actually buys.
Permitted health claims still trail the marketing on UK shelves
The list of things a supplement label may lawfully say is public, finite and specific. A good deal of front-of-pack copy is written to gesture past it.