Use, Quality and Safety of Food Supplements: Scientific and Regulatory Perspectives
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 467
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food toxicology; food safety; bioactive compounds; antioxidants; oxidative stress; mycotoxins; cancer; pharmacology; toxicology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: food chemistry; functional food; nutraceuticals; bioactive compounds; antioxidants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Food and dietary supplements are consumed globally, but their usage patterns, composition, and safety profiles can differ widely. Thanks to recent progress in analytical chemistry, biochemistry, and regulatory science, we now have more effective tools to verify ingredients, measure active compounds, and detect contaminants or adulteration. Even so, important challenges remain, particularly in achieving unified quality standards, maintaining consistent post-market monitoring, and establishing evidence-based safety thresholds.
The reasons for using food supplements, which contain nutrients, biologically active compounds, or plant-based extracts, are shaped by a mix of demographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors. This diversity highlights the importance of incorporating real-world data into the assessments of risks and benefits.
This Special Issue invites original research, reviews, and policy analyses that explore various aspects of food supplements, ranging from consumption trends to quality control and safety regulation. We welcome contributions on topics such as prevalence, patterns, and attitudes regarding the use of food supplements; advanced analytical and innovative methods for product validation; standardization of botanical and micronutrient formulations; clinical and toxicological studies; interactions between food supplements, foods, and drugs; post-market surveillance systems; comparative regulatory analyses across countries; and frameworks for assessing risk and benefit to guide consumers. By bringing together interdisciplinary insights, this Special Issue aims to support science-informed policymaking, foster regulatory alignment, and help protect public health.
Dr. João G. Costa
Prof. Dr. Bojana Vidović
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- food supplements
- dietary supplements
- consumption patterns
- quality control
- safety assessment
- regulatory frameworks
- analytical methods
- risk-benefit analysis
- nutrigenomics
- post‑market surveillance
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
