The multi-faceted website targets professionals, scientists, regulators and consumers seeking to gain a better understanding of the congaing face of regulations governing botanicals in the European Union.

“The EBF aims to encourage expert debate on botanical food supplements among industry, governments and the scientific community based on accurate, up-to-date and factual information,” said EBF chairman Manfred Ruthsatz,.

“Considerable misconceptions exist in relation to botanical food supplements. Some think that botanical food supplements lack a regulatory framework sufficient to ensure their safety and quality; others think they should be regulated as medicines or that they make misleading and exaggerated claims that are not scientifically substantiated. In reality, botanical food supplements are heavily regulated products. We felt that an overview of the most important aspects of the usefulness of such products and the extent to which they are regulated would be very helpful.”

The EBF was founded in 2004 by scientific experts from the European food supplements sector.