Spain's supplement summit
- ANEFP held the third 'Food and Health 2026' conference on April 20 to debate dietary supplements' future. (infobae.com) - Organizers billed this edition as the third, centering conversations on supplements within broader self-care and preventive health. (infobae.com) - Coverage framed the event as part of a shift toward integrated wellness—food, supplements, and long-term maintenance. (infobae.com)
Spain’s self-care industry used a Madrid conference on April 20 to argue that dietary supplements are moving from a niche product category into a broader preventive-health business. (infobae.com) The event, organized by the Asociación para el Autocuidado de la Salud, or ANEFP, was billed as the third “Food and Health 2026” edition and focused on the future of food supplements in Spain. ConSalud reported that more than 40 professionals took part and that officials from the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition, Madrid, and Catalonia attended. (infobae.com, consalud.es) Dietary supplements in Spain are regulated as foods, not medicines. Spain’s food safety agency defines them as concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, sold in dosed forms such as capsules, tablets, powders, or liquids. (aesan.gob.es, efsa.europa.eu) That distinction shapes the debate. ANEFP and industry speakers have tied supplements to self-care, while regulators emphasize labeling, advertising, daily-dose limits, and responsible use rather than treatment claims. (infobae.com, aesan.gob.es) This year’s discussion landed as the sector pushes for more room to innovate. ConSalud reported in March that ANEFP was calling for a “flexible” regulatory framework for supplements, while also stressing collaboration with health authorities. (consalud.es) The themes were also familiar. At ANEFP’s 2024 Food&Health meeting, speakers highlighted scientific evidence, ecodesign, product personalization, and artificial intelligence as the forces likely to shape the category in coming years. (anefp.org, consalud.es) Spain’s supplement market has been growing across channels, including pharmacies and mass retail. Trade coverage in 2025 described solid pharmacy growth, and Euromonitor projected further double-digit value growth in Spain over 2025. (nutrasalud.es, marketresearch.com) ANEFP has been making the same broader argument across its consumer-health agenda. The group said in late 2025 that Spain’s overall self-care market was on track to top €7 billion, linking supplements to a wider business that includes over-the-counter products and personal care. (infobae.com) The conference did not change Spain’s rules on April 20. It showed where the industry wants the conversation to go next: supplements as part of everyday maintenance, but under a food-law framework that still limits what companies can promise. (infobae.com, aesan.gob.es)
