Ministry updated the list of ingredients admitted in food supplements

The Italian Ministry of Health has published a new update of the list of other nutrients and substances with nutritional or physiological effects (the latest version of the document was the revision of March 2018) and has circulated a brief note clarifying the changes introduced.

In particular, the warning regarding the presence of lipoic acid was changed: the reference to the intake of lipid-reducing drugs was deleted and a warning was included on the need to ask for the doctor’s advice before using the product as lipoic acid can rarely cause hypoglycaemia.

The occurrence of hypoglycaemia can in fact be related to the intake of the substances containing sulfhydryl groups (as lipoic acid), but there is no specific relation with the doses as genetic susceptibility is determining.

For the ingredient epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea, the maximum dosage of 120 mg for pregnant women was deleted as the use of this ingredient is not admitted anymore during pregnancy. From scientific evidence it has emerged that the substance affects negatively on the bioavailability of folic acid, which is an essential vitamin during pregnancy.

The limit of maximum daily intake of 300 mg is unvaried for the other groups of consumers.

Finally, the “enzymes from fermented maltodextrins” have been deleted from the list of other ingredients. This was deleted as unclear. In fact the final ingredient is no more made of maltodextrins but by the fermentation products deriving from them. Therefore, it is required to assess on a case-by-case basis whether the ingredient to be used is admitted.

In the case of serratiopeptidase it was confirmed that it has to be considered as novel food and therefore the marketing of food supplements containing this ingredient is not allowed.

Companies are requested to comply with these new updates as of next productions.

The Ministry of Health has stressed the importance of disseminating these documents asap.