Dietary Supplement Industry: Creating Truth, Transparency, and Trust in 2025

By: Leena Pradhan-Nabzdyk, PhD, MBA

The time for advanced testing solutions in dietary supplements is now. To create authentic, science-backed dietary supplement products, companies must go beyond standard FDA lab testing and not rely solely on "borrowed science" that doesn't directly test the actual ingredients and formulations.

A New Year, New Opportunities

As the new year approaches, many see it as an opportunity to reset and focus on health, nutrition, and physical well-being. Yet, as we bid farewell to 2024, feelings are mixed—ranging from excitement to anxiety—about the incoming new administration. We’re already seeing a surge in advertisements, influencer endorsements, and political news stories related to the health of Americans—all amid the widespread desire for a fresh start in the new year.

This past year, I had the opportunity to attend many different trade shows and industry events. It makes me excited to see that science, which was not always the strength of this industry, has now started to take center stage. Given the timeliness we’re at, I decided to highlight where I see the dietary supplement industry heading and the opportunities we have to foster truth, transparency, and trust in a space rooted in traditional medicine spanning millennia.

I Believe It Starts with Efficacy
Looking ahead, the dietary supplement industry is growing rapidly and presents significant opportunities. Based on consumer research, we know that consumers want more information about dietary supplements, including their effects on their bodies. I often hear consumers say, “I wish I knew what dietary supplements to trust and which are effective and safe.”

Technological advancements now enable us to meet these demands by providing evidence of the efficacy of botanical and functional ingredients. These methods go far beyond the FDA-regulated tests of identity, potency, and purity, offering an opportunity to further validate claims and support efficacy.

I believe that companies investing in evidence to create genuinely science-backed dietary supplements, supported by their own research and testing data, will help us move beyond the "Wild West" reputation often associated with the industry. Providing scientific evidence and ingredient- and product-specific testing enhances transparency and builds consumer trust.

Why Is It Important to Prove Efficacy?
Ingredients are not all the same. For example, botanical ingredients sourced from different suppliers can vary in their efficacy profile due to differences in geographic regions, crop strains, climate conditions, harvest times, extraction methods, etc. Therefore, it is important to test each particular ingredient for its efficacy. If you have a multi-ingredient formulation, it becomes even more important to prove the efficacy of the whole formulation. You want to ensure that combining different ingredients results in a net positive and expected effect—without any potential negative impact on human health.

Ingredient/Product Efficacy in Pre-clinical Study = Foundation for Successful Clinical Trials
Investing in an expensive dietary supplement clinical trial without evidence of the actual ingredients or the product’s impact in a pre-clinical study or relying solely on previously published studies, can be a setup for failure and a costly mistake. Proving potential efficacy in a pre-clinical study before conducting a clinical trial is crucial to ensure that the ingredients and formulation are likely to produce the desired results. It is also an ethical imperative before conducting a human trial with paid or volunteer participants. Without this preliminary efficacy testing, you risk wasting valuable time and resources that may not yield meaningful or reliable outcomes. By validating potential efficacy upfront in a pre-clinical study, you can refine your formulation and improve the chances of a successful clinical trial, ensuring that the product is both effective and safe for consumers.

Benefits of Pre-Clinical and Clinical Efficacy Testing
Validating the efficacy of dietary supplements is essential for ensuring both product quality and consumer trust. Other key benefits/takeaways of efficacy testing for dietary supplements include:

Understanding Mechanisms of Action: Pre-clinical studies can validate the specific biological effects and clinical trials can validate the physiological effects of ingredients and multi-ingredient formulations, confirming how the supplement may work in the body.
Beyond Basic Regulatory Tests: Ingredients may pass identity, potency, and purity tests but still may have no or low efficacy and minimal positive benefit to human health.
Scientific Credibility: Builds scientific credibility and reputation for products and brands.
Regulatory Compliance: Provides evidence to support product claims, ensuring compliance and legal protection.
Product Differentiation: Highlights unique or superior efficacy, helping brands stand out in the market.
Building Consumer Trust: Demonstrates transparency and effectiveness, fostering confidence and loyalty.
Consumer Education: Offers clear, evidence-based information about supplement benefits, enabling informed purchasing decisions.

What Are Key Opinion Leaders Saying?
As Karen Todd said in a recent Nutraceuticals World article, “Today’s consumers are more informed, engaged, and intentional in their health decisions than ever before. With the influx of information readily available, they are demanding transparency and seeking out products that prioritize quality and research-backed efficacy.”

In the same article, Dr. Jacqueline Jacques remarked, “Consumers are saying ‘show me the science.’ As a larger part of the population seeks alternatives for pharmaceuticals, they increasingly want evidence that they are putting their money into products that will deliver.”

Looking Ahead
As we enter 2025, the dietary supplement industry stands at a turning point. With science leading the way, we have a chance to create a future built on proven efficacy, transparency, and trust.

I am excited to support this evolving industry as we work towards Canomiks’s vision of Making Food as Medicine a Reality®.