False and Misleading Health-Related Claims in Food Supplements on Spanish Radio: an Analysis from a European Regulatory Framework

Objective: The excessive growth of the food supplements' industry highlights the need to focus attention on all aspects involved in their proper consumption; one that takes centre stage is advertising. The aim of this research is to analyse the presence of false and misleading claims in food supplements advertising. To this end, a relationship is established between the different types of health-related claims and the substances on which they are based, whether authorised or not by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Design: This empirical work conducts a content analysis of all radio mentions broadcast throughout 2017 on news/talk radio stations. Setting: Spain. Participants: All radio mentions broadcast on news/talk commercial radio stations in Spain with the highest audience levels. The corpus is composed of 437 advertisements. Results: Results indicate that 80 center dot 3 % of function claims included in the analysed advertisements are not authorised by EFSA, while 20 center dot 4 % of disease claims are not allowed by EU regulation. Likewise, almost half of the substances referred to (43 center dot 7 %) are illicit: 54 center dot 1 % in function claims, 57 center dot 3 % in disease claims and 73 center dot 7 % in the case of reduction of disease risk claims. Conclusions: This work reveals consistent failures to comply with European regulation on food supplements advertising. The widespread use of unauthorised health claims and substances is aggravated by the indirect recourse of illness as a persuasive argument, descriptions of alleged benefits as product attributes and the omission of essential information. This leads to dangerous misinformation and can pose serious health risks. Stronger legal mechanisms are needed for effective consumer protection.