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Foods
Special Issues
Food Supplements: Composition, Health Benefits, Adulteration, and Safety
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Food Supplements: Composition, Health Benefits, Adulteration, and Safety

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Physics and (Bio)Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 10423

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Joana S. Amaral

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Guest Editor
CIMO, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal
Interests: food authenticity; food chemistry; molecular biology approaches applied to food authentication and GMO detection; plant food supplements; bioactive compounds; antioxidant activity; antimicrobial activity; chromatography; development of analytical methods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues

The consumption of food supplements, also known as dietary supplements, has been rising in recent years, driven by consumers’ increasing interest in health and wellness, among other factors. In parallel to this growth, concerns regarding food supplement composition, adulteration, and their health benefits and potential side effects have also become increasingly prominent. Among those, the most common concern is regarding adulterations, i.e., the insufficient amount of functional ingredients and the presence of contaminants such as pesticides, mycotoxins, and heavy metals. Adulterations mainly comprise the botanical adulteration of plant food supplements and the illegal addition of drugs to boost the effect of the product.

In addition, there is still a lack of information on consumption and consumers’ awareness regarding these products, as well as on several other aspects such as their nutritional properties, bioavailability, potential health benefits, and possible side effects.

This Special Issue aims to address these critical aspects by inviting original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that contribute to our understanding of food supplements and their impact on human health.

Dr. Joana S. Amaral
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • composition of food supplements
  • plant food supplements
  • frauds (botanical adulteration and illegal addition of drugs)
  • health benefits
  • bioactive compounds
  • bioavailability
  • consumption and consumer awareness
  • quality control
  • safety assessment
  • potential side effects and safety concerns

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2098 KiB  
Article
Metabolomics and Biochemical Benefits of Multivitamin and Multimineral Supplementation in Healthy Individuals: A Pilot Study
by María C. Sánchez, Ana Herráiz, María J. Ciudad, Marta Arias, Raquel Alonso, Carmen Doblas, Arancha Llama-Palacios and Luis Collado
Foods 2024, 13(14), 2207; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13142207 - 13 Jul 2024
Viewed by 2643
Abstract
Scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of vitamin and mineral supplements in healthy individuals remains scarce. In a randomized, double-blind study, 30 healthy individuals were assigned to receive a single daily dose of multivitamin and multimineral supplementation or a double daily dose for 30 [...] Read more.
Scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of vitamin and mineral supplements in healthy individuals remains scarce. In a randomized, double-blind study, 30 healthy individuals were assigned to receive a single daily dose of multivitamin and multimineral supplementation or a double daily dose for 30 days. Before and after the intake, an untargeted metabolomics assay for serum metabolites was conducted by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, and clinical assessments of peripheral blood samples were performed. A paired t-test for metabolic analysis, adjusted using the false discovery rate (FDR) and p-value correction method (rate of change > 2 and FDR < 0.05), the Shapiro–Wilk test, Student’s t-test, and the Mann–Whitney U test were applied depending on the variable, with a 5% significance level. An impact on oxidative stress was observed, with a significant reduction in homocysteine levels and an increment of pyridoxic acid (vitamin B6). The effect on energy metabolism was shown by a significant increase in diverse metabolites, such as linoleoylcarnitine. Serum iron and calcium levels were also impacted. Overall, we observed a nutritional balance compatible with a good state of health. In conclusion, beneficial effects on adult health were demonstrated in relation to oxidative stress, energy metabolism, and nutritional balance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Supplements: Composition, Health Benefits, Adulteration, and Safety)
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20 pages, 590 KiB  
Article
Quality Control and Safety Assessment of Online-Purchased Food Supplements Containing Red Yeast Rice (RYR)
by Celine Vanhee, Bram Jacobs, Michael Canfyn, Svetlana V. Malysheva, Marie Willocx, Julien Masquelier and Koenraad Van Hoorde
Foods 2024, 13(12), 1919; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13121919 - 18 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1713
Abstract
Dietary supplements containing red yeast rice (RYR), a fermentation product of the fungus Monascus purpureus grown on white rice, remain popular in Europe as proclaimed cholesterol-lowering aids. The cholesterol-lowering effects are due to the occurrence of monacolin K, which is often present as [...] Read more.
Dietary supplements containing red yeast rice (RYR), a fermentation product of the fungus Monascus purpureus grown on white rice, remain popular in Europe as proclaimed cholesterol-lowering aids. The cholesterol-lowering effects are due to the occurrence of monacolin K, which is often present as a mixture of monacolin K lactone (MK) and as monacolin K hydroxy acid (MKA). MK is structurally similar to the cholesterol-lowering medicine lovastatin. Recently, due to safety concerns linked to the use of statins, the European Commission prohibited RYR supplements with a maximum serving exceeding 3 mg of total monacolins per day. Moreover, the amount of the mycotoxin citrinin, potentially produced by M. purpureus, was also reduced to 100 µg/kg. Evidently, manufacturers that offer their products on the European market, including the online market, must also be compliant with these limits in order to guarantee the safety of their products. Therefore, thirty-five different RYR supplements, purchased from an EU-bound e-commerce platform or from registered online pharmacies, were screened for their compliance to the European legislation for citrinin content and the amount of total monacolin K. This was conducted by means of a newly developed LC-MS/MS methodology that was validated according to ISO 17025. Moreover, these supplements were also screened for possible adulteration and any contamination by micro-organisms and/or mycotoxins. It was found that at least four of the thirty-five RYR supplements (≈11%) might have reason for concern for the safety of the consumer either due to high total monacolin K concentrations exceeding the European predefined limits for total monacolins or severe bacterial contamination. Moreover, three samples (≈9%) were likely adulterated, and the labeling of six of the seventeen samples (≈35%) originating from an EU-based e-commerce platform was not compliant, as either the mandatory warning was missing or incomplete or the total amount of monacolins was not mentioned. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Supplements: Composition, Health Benefits, Adulteration, and Safety)
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Review

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26 pages, 1575 KiB  
Review
Adulteration of Brain Health (Cognitive, Mood, and Sleep Enhancement) Food Supplements by the Addition of Pharmaceutical Drugs: A Comprehensive Review of Analytical Approaches and Trends
by Rafael Paiva, Manuela Correia, Cristina Delerue-Matos and Joana S. Amaral
Foods 2024, 13(6), 908; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13060908 - 16 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4042
Abstract
In recent years, the consumption of dietary supplements has grown worldwide, particularly in developed regions. However, this growing market has also become a prime target for adulteration practices, with some manufacturers illegally adding pharmaceuticals into plant-based food supplements (PFS) to enhance their effects. [...] Read more.
In recent years, the consumption of dietary supplements has grown worldwide, particularly in developed regions. However, this growing market has also become a prime target for adulteration practices, with some manufacturers illegally adding pharmaceuticals into plant-based food supplements (PFS) to enhance their effects. While extensive research has focused on detecting adulterant drugs in PFS tailored for improving sexual performance, weight loss, and muscle building, less attention has been given to supplements intended for mood enhancement, sleep aid, and cognitive function (nootropics). Nonetheless, recent reports indicate an increasing level of adulteration within this group of PFS. Therefore, this review aims at providing a comprehensive overview on the adulteration of PFS tailored for brain health, with a focus on the analytical techniques utilized for detection while also presenting data on consumption patterns and the prevalence of reported adulterants. Considering that the detection of such fraudulent practices primarily relies on chromatographic techniques coupled with mass spectrometry (MS), the developments in this field comprising either targeted or untargeted analysis of pharmaceutical adulterants are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Supplements: Composition, Health Benefits, Adulteration, and Safety)
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