Professor Mohammed Gulrez Zariwala, Professor in Translational Physiology and Director of the Centre for Nutraceuticals at the School of Life Sciences, recently spoke to Informa’s Vitafoods Insights about translating the science behind supplements to gain trust from consumers. He addresses the importance of clear communication about supplement products between the industry and customer.
Informa is a leading global platform about food, beverage and nutraceutical industry insights and analysis.
The article talked about building robust research to defeat scepticism around nutraceuticals, translating research into innovation and product development, and investing in long-term science to earn consumers’ trust.
Professor Zariwala suggests that the best way to create trust is to have a credible, independent and unbiased source, such as a university-based research centre, communicating the message, as the research conducted in such places is “regarded as the gold standard”. He leads the Centre for Nutraceuticals at Westminster, a first-of-its-kind initiative in the area of nutraceuticals, supplements and functional foods. The Centre acts as a globally recognised source of scientifically validated knowledge and a catalyst for improving health and wellbeing guided by research and innovation.
He said: “We have a unique, vertically integrated research model that involves screening and identifying new phytochemicals with nutraceutical potential, increasing their stability and potency using novel formulation strategies, exploring their biological effects in animal-free models, and conducting high-quality human clinical studies to validate ingredient/product efficacy.
“This gives industry partners access to all stages of the product development lifecycle research in one package to help develop true science-backed ingredients and products from the bottom up. We are one of the very few research organisations that operate in this manner and have developed several innovative and commercially successful products in this way.”
When asked why the translation of research into innovation and product development was significant for the nutraceutical industry, Professor Zariwala highlighted “longstanding issues” in the space, particularly around “exaggerated product claims” and “relatively slow genuine innovation”.
He added: “Companies often shout about their ‘science-backed’ credentials of some products, but if you look behind the catchy buzzwords, there is often very little primary research done by them. A good way to communicate the right message about your brand and reinforce its science-based credentials would be to create platforms such as blogs, podcast discussions and seminars to create conversations to clarify key terms, rather than use marketing hype-based messaging.”
Professor Zariwala said that the recent large-scale refurbishment and expansion of the Centre for Nutraceutical’s facilities had “increased our capabilities in terms of equipment, so there are lots of exciting plans for the future”. The Centre is expanding its focus in clinical trials from nutraceutical ingredient validation to include finished products. Other plans include the expansion of its student nutrition conference to include nutritionists and practitioners, while a global consortium on nutraceutical research and innovation is touted for the longer term.
Professor Zariwala also recently attended NutrEvent 2024, Europe’s leading food and nutrition-themed innovation and partnering event, where he was invited to participate at an expert roundtable to share his perspective on how to communicate the science behind supplements and generate consumer trust and acceptance with industry experts at the event.
Read the full article on Vitafoods Insights.
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