'Slick and ambitious' French platform uses tech to boost supplement safety and transparency
The platform, which replaces former system Téléicare, features an automated pathway based on product composition plus a search function for users to check the regulatory status of different ingredients.
This connects to databases from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the French agency ANSES, providing information on legal labelling requirements and marketing restrictions.
Future plans for Compl’Alim include creating an open data catalog, plus a new digital system allowing consumers to report undeclared products.
Transparent and accessible
Compl’Alim was developed as a state-sponsored start-up in response to concerns about safety and transparency in the growing French supplement sector. In 2023, the French dietary supplements market grew 3% compared to the previous year, generating €2.7 billion in turnover.
However, unlike medicines, dietary supplements do not require marketing authorization (MA) to be sold, provided they contain authorized ingredients and quantities.
The French government hopes Compl’Alim will boost data accessibility and market transparency. The platform has been designed to give industry professionals easy access to detailed and clear information, while consumers benefit from greater confidence in the supplements they use.
No legal weight
Luca Bucchini, managing director at Hylobates Consulting, says that the platform is “slick and ambitious” and “may enhance transparency and trust as claimed.”
“The database could potentially be an important tool for industry, providing a degree of certainty when ingredients appear as ‘autorisé’—especially if compared with the previous Teleicare,” he said.
However, Bucchini added that industry needs to be realistic about its applications.
“The platform has errors, lacks comprehensiveness and carries no legal weight, as explicitly stated on its website,” he said. “A rapid update system is essential. Without this, the ambition risks falling flat.”
Greater scrutiny in Europe
The launch arrives at a time when supplement safety is under greater scrutiny by authorities across Europe.
In France, 154 cases of adverse effects of food supplements for athletes were reported between 2016 and February 2024. Eighteen were considered very serious with two deaths and four people reporting life-threatening symptoms. Some supplements involved contained banned substances like anabolic steroids.
Meanwhile, this September a multi-agency campaign in Austria involving the Federal Office of Consumer Health (BAVG) and the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) found a high rate of non-compliance on imported supplements.
AGES staff tested 50 supplement samples sold over the internet at the Inzersdorf postal distribution center. Out of 50 samples, 21 were non-approved novel foods, which could not be sold in the EU. One sample contained mercury and was considered hazardous to health.
In Austria, around 450 samples are officially checked every year to test food supplement safety. Approximately a third are rejected, mostly because of labeling problems like incorrect information or banned health claims.
