Ethical aspects of food supplements in eu and Romania

Abstract

Food supplements represent a complex domain, with controversial ethical aspects and different peculiarities in Europe compared to the US. These products are of two types-with vitamins and minerals and with nutritional or physiological substances-each having its own approach. The paper is structured into two parts, the first being dedicated to the presentation of European and national legislation, with reporting of some ethical issues. We noted the achievement of an own food supplements legislative framework, clearly separated from that of medicines and foods. In the second part of the paper are presented the results of a survey that we conducted in May 2018 about using the food supplements in medical practice. There were selected two groups of respondents: physicians and pharmacists (97) and consumers/patients (99) to whom it has been distributed a questionnaire with 5 questions.