Most Americans prefer natural dietary supplements over synthetic and think synthetic supplements should be labelled as such, according to new research commissioned by the Trust Transparency Center (TTC).
The national survey, conducted by Ooyen Research, surveyed a cross-section of 1,002 adults in the US, age 18 and over. The survey found:
- Among supplement users and those with an opinion, 83% of respondents said synthetic supplements should always be labelled.
- Fifty-one% of women said supplements should always be labelled synthetic.
- Only 8.15% of respondents said they would purchase synthetic-labelled supplements, and of that group 4.32% of respondents said they’d want the product labelled synthetic.
“We live in an era of increasing transparency,” said Scott Steinford, founder and managing partner, Trust Transparency Center and author of The ROI of Trust Transparency. “Consumers expect brands to be transparent with their materials and the results of this survey support that consumers want to know if the product they’re buying is derived from synthetic material.”
TTC cites as ruling in August 2018 by the European Commission (EC), that allows the term synthetic to be removed from zeaxanthin labels. The ruling stated that it was “to alleviate any potential negative economic impact that the use of synthetic may cause due to the negative connotation of the term synthetic.”
“In some cases, the synthetic form is more beneficial to the body, and without labelling consumers won’t know that,” added Steinford. “Making decisions to help the economic well-being of a company vs. offering trust transparency to consumers is a disservice to consumers and the industry.”
