Trend: Finally, Some Transparency Into What’s in That Supplement

Supplements are a massive market, but one plagued by lax regulations and serious credibility issues. Most simply aren’t what they claim to be. Now, thankfully, more companies are giving a clear window into ingredients, and tracing the sourcing and production processes … from seed to final product

Supplements are a booming $178 billion market that’s moved from humble health aid on pharmacy shelves to cultural phenomenon. Problem is, there may not be a wellness market so big that is also so clouded in skepticism and science-washing. It’s an industry defined by few regulations, glossy packaging and celebrity endorsements.

Our 2025 trend, “The Supplement Paradox: Wellness, Efficacy and the Trust Revolution,” explores several new directions that may be able to address the crisis in supplement trust. Among them, we see a powerful shift towards personalization, with biomarker and genetic testing and predictive AI creating supplements tailored to an individual’s actual needs, that could prevents risks like toxic over-supplementation.

What’s in That Pill? The trend covers one of the most pervasive problems with supplements: many countries, from Algeria to the US, have almost no regulations––while in countries with stricter rules, such as EU nations and China, oversight is so inconsistent globally that it fuels confusion. As NIH researchers put it, in their global overview of the industry, “Supplements are loosely regulated because they’re culturally embedded and driven by an industry that is in a vacuum and separate from public health imperatives. Furthermore, there is little agreement between countries on the regulatory requirements, definition, or even the terminology that can be used to classify supplements.” The upshot: what’s in that hyped gummy is too often unclear; ingredients and production processes have been dangerously vague.

It’s a huge problem in the massive US market, where supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, even though half the population thinks they are. A 2023 study in JAMA tested 60 popular supplements sold in the US and found that only 11% of them contain exactly what their labels claim, and 40% of them contain no trace of one of the ingredients listed. A Business Insider report revealed that supplements send thousands of people to the emergency room every year. If the EU has stricter standards, supplement ingredients are under rising scrutiny there. An Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety study found that for 50 supplements tested there, 21 contained non-approved ingredients.

Radical Transparency and “Clean Medicine”: With more consumers demanding clear, verifiable info, more brands are doing some self-policing, providing whole-chain transparency, from ingredient sourcing to manufacturing to packaging. Some brands are also focusing on “clean medicine,” a movement reshaping both the pharmaceutical and supplements space. This means minimal, sustainable ingredients that aren’t packed with the artificial fillers, binders and preservatives found in so many drugs and supplements.

A few companies trailblazing the transparent and “clean" supplements trends––from Amway to Ritual to GEM

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The Trend in the News

The wellness industry has a pill problem–Pop Sugar
This new article explores why there seems to be a supplement for everything these days, with an abundance of products often lacking the right ingredients or being contaminated, and sold with no rigorous safety testing. Weight loss and body-building products in particular too often contain hidden stimulants, prescription medications, and even toxic substances. Includes advice from a doctor and a healthcare and supplement expert on how to best do your research.

The impact of transparency on consumer trust in the supplement industry–CEO Magazine

Explains why transparency in supplements has become the key to earning customer trust and the very future of the industry. Details how to become a transparent brand: provide clear, verifiable information about the composition, sourcing, and manufacturing of a product and openly disclose details like ingredient origins, supply chain integrity, third-party testing results, and regulatory compliance.

How to know if a supplement is any good: all the red flags to be aware of; what you need to look for–The Independent

From gummies that don’t contain the nutrients they claim to “hormone-balancing” wonder pills, there are tons of scams in the world of supplements. Social media is much to blame. Experts lay out what to look for. Seek third party testing; be cautious about “proprietary blends” (they often use this aspirational term to not disclose the ingredients); watch for fillers, bulking agents and additives; don’t think that just because it’s expensive it’s better; and how to really understand the label and ingredients.

How Ritual focused on traceable, clean supplements to make $250 million a year–CNBC

Explains how the founder of Ritual, Katerina Markov Schneider, built a supplements brand that grossed $250 million in revenue in 2024, by building a team of scientists and putting traceability and transparency at the heart of their mission. To make the “future of health clear” they disclose every single ingredient and where it was sourced. They’ve also committed to clinical studies on every one of their products by 2030.