Every claim on our shelves, in plain English

Every authorised health claim in Britain is a fixed sentence. Not a theme, not a gist — an exact form of words, sitting on a government register, tied to one nutrient.

Nine of them cover almost everything on our shelves. Here they are, in the wording the law actually uses, with a translation.

The nine

Vitamin B6 contributes to the regulation of hormonal activity

The one you will see on nearly every menopause supplement, and the reason B6 is in all of them. It says B6 plays a part in how hormones are regulated. It does not say it will balance your hormones, and it does not mention menopause at all. The distance between those two things is where most misleading marketing lives.

Magnesium contributes to normal psychological function

Magnesium contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue

Magnesium has an unusually broad set of authorised claims, which is why it turns up everywhere. Note what these say: normal psychological function, and a reduction of tiredness. Neither is a claim about sleep. There is no authorised claim that magnesium helps you sleep — so when a product implies it, it is going beyond what it may say.

Vitamin D contributes to the maintenance of normal bones

Vitamin D contributes to the normal function of the immune system

Vitamin D contributes to normal absorption/utilisation of calcium and phosphorus

The least glamorous nutrient here and arguably the most sensible. UK public health advice already suggests considering a daily vitamin D supplement in autumn and winter, because at this latitude there is not enough sunlight to make your own.

Vitamin B12 contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue

Same careful construction as magnesium. Tiredness, not energy. There is no authorised claim that anything gives you energy.

Calcium is needed for the maintenance of normal bones

Vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of normal bones

Read those two verbs again. Calcium is needed for; vitamin K contributes to. They are not interchangeable, and the register does not let you swap them. That is the level of precision these rules operate at.

The dose rule that decides everything

A claim may only be used where the product actually contains enough of the nutrient to matter. The baseline is 15% of the nutrient reference value.

For a supplement, the sensible reading — and the government's own — is that you should get that 15% from the amount you would reasonably be expected to consume in a day. In other words, from the recommended daily dose, not from a theoretical 100g of powder nobody would ever swallow.

This matters more than it sounds. A product can list an impressive-looking ingredient at a trace level and still not qualify to say anything about it. Which is why we publish the dose, not just the ingredient list. An ingredient without a number next to it is decoration.

The rule that catches nearly everyone

You cannot make a vague health claim on its own.

“Supports wellbeing.” “Good for you through the change.” “Helps your body do its thing.” Under the advertising rules, a general reference to health benefits is only acceptable if it is accompanied by a specific authorised claim from the register.

So a page that says nothing but “supports hormonal wellbeing” is not being cautious by staying vague. It is breaking a different rule.

The two claims that name menopause

There are exactly two, and they are worth knowing because almost nobody uses them.

Calcium and vitamin D help to reduce the loss of bone mineral in post-menopausal women. Low bone mineral density is a risk factor for osteoporotic bone fractures.

This is authorised. It is real. And it comes with hard conditions: the supplement must provide at least 400mg of calcium and 15µg of vitamin D per daily portion, and the consumer must be told the claim is intended for women aged 50 and over, with the benefit obtained at a daily intake of at least 1,200mg of calcium and 20µg of vitamin D from all sources.

Nowhere else on the register is menopause mentioned. Not once. The only thing the law will let a supplement say about menopause specifically is about your bones — and that is a genuinely useful thing to know, because bone density after menopause is a real consideration, and it is a conversation worth having with your GP rather than solving alone with a tub.

Why we bother with any of this

Because the alternative is a shelf where every product sounds equally promising and none of it means anything.

Once you know that the claims are fixed sentences, you can read a product page properly. You can see which parts came from the register and which parts somebody wrote in the marketing meeting. And you can spot the products that are quietly saying nothing at great length.

General information about product regulation, not medical advice. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. Speak to your GP or pharmacist about your own situation.