Consumers are increasingly interested in nutraceuticals, with global product sales projected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 8.3% from 2020 through 2027, according to Grand View Research. They see nutraceuticals as a means to enhance their ability to fight viruses such as COVID-19, maintain active lifestyles while aging, restore lost nutrients from exercise, speed recovery from surgery, and enable balanced nutrition if they’re unable to consume a balanced diet.
The scope of nutraceuticals is not well-defined, due to conflicting and broad definitions from different sources. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for example, defines a nutraceutical as “any substance that is a food or a part of a food and can induce medical and health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease.” But FDA does not allow companies to suggest that these foods prevent or cure diseases, even though consumers often link certain nutrients to specific health benefits (without substantiation). Nutraceuticals also have spawned many offshoots, including “farmaceuticals” from modified crops or animals.
The complexity of ingredients for foods and the potential health benefits of these ingredients are the subject of much analysis (Carpio et al. 2021). But in any case, the presence of nutrients in higher concentrations in foods requires unique attention to packaging.
Establishing Authenticity
The authenticity of nutraceuticals as ingredients and in finished products is essential in ensuring that the nutrients are safe and that they are what consumers need and expect. But accessing critical ingredients to meet an exponential rise in consumer nutrient trends is challenging. The situation often prompts counterfeiters to seek to profit from the short supply and sometimes limited ability to track sources.
Obtaining ingredients to meet trend-driven desires is logistically demanding for agricultural products in particular because they require an extended growing season before harvest. For example, the high demand for European black elderberry—which is connected to reducing influenza and cold symptoms—and the low crop yields due to inclement weather have led to an elderberry shortage. This imbalance between supply and demand has prompted concerns about dilution of elderberry within packaging and replacement of entire elderberry shipments with counterfeit elderberry-like additives.
Using overt and covert intelligent packaging can deter and thwart counterfeiting in B2B nutraceuticals such as elderberry, as well as provide consumers with confidence that a product is authentic. While trusted relationships in the value chain aid in reducing counterfeiting, tracking and tracing the actual chain of custody provides continual assurance for each hand-off in the supply chain. Continue Reading...