Technical / White Paper
Method Development and Validation for Nutraceuticals
Nutraceutical is a term formed from the amalgamation of the words “pharmaceutical” and “nutrition” by Dr Stephen Felice in 1989. Others have since tried to further define the term to distinguish and clarify the difference between functional foods, dietary supplements and nutraceuticals. There is now some consensus that a nutraceutical can be loosely defined as “a functional food or supplement that aids in the prevention or alleviation of a disease state or disorder (except for anaemia), and not just supplement the diet”. Therefore, a nutraceutical may be incorporated into a food product/matrix, or into a pill, capsule, tablet etc. There is no strict legal definition in the US, Canada or Europe to define nutraceutical, but other legal requirements do exist to cover dietary supplements and novel foods within these markets.
