Selling UK-made supplements into the EU: what brands get wrong

By Lee Smith · Published 29 August 2026

The single biggest misconception we correct for brands entering Europe is this: there is no such thing as “EU-compliant” as a single checkbox. Food supplements in the EU sit under a shared framework, but the steps that actually get your product legally on sale are decided country by country. Getting Germany right does not make you ready for Italy. Format and dose are part of that country-by-country picture, and they set your order size too, which we break down in how supplement MOQs actually work.

The shared layer

Across the EU, food supplements are regulated as foods, not medicines. The framework directive on food supplements governs which vitamins and minerals may be used and in what forms, and the Food Information to Consumers Regulation (EU 1169/2011) governs how the label must present mandatory information: the name of the food, the list of ingredients, allergens, net quantity, storage conditions, the responsible food business operator’s address, and the specific statements supplements must carry, such as the recommended daily dose and the warning not to exceed it.

The national layer, where launches actually fail

Many member states require you to notify the national authority before placing a supplement on their market. In Germany, that means notification to the BVL, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, and compliance with the German supplements regulation (NemV) on top of the EU rules. Fines for non-compliance in Germany can reach EUR 50,000. Other markets have their own notification portals, their own maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals, and their own views on botanicals: an ingredient accepted without comment in one country can be restricted in its neighbour. This is precisely why we maintain market-specific export guidance, country by country, on our exports pages.

Language is a legal requirement, not a courtesy

Mandatory label information must appear in a language easily understood by consumers in the country of sale, which in practice means a compliant translation for each market, and multilingual labels need designing for that from the start rather than squeezed in afterwards.

What this means for how you plan a launch

Pick your first two or three markets before artwork is finalised, not after. Have the formulation reviewed against each target market’s permitted levels early, because reformulating after packaging is printed is the expensive version. Build notification time into your launch plan alongside the manufacturing lead time. And use a manufacturer whose regulatory team has filed in these markets before, so the paperwork is a process rather than a research project.

UK manufacturing remains an excellent base for EU sales. The brands that struggle are not the ones with British-made products; they are the ones that treated Europe as one market instead of twenty-seven. Many of these duties sit with you rather than your manufacturer, a point we make in why starting a supplement brand is not like starting a clothing brand.

Thinking about selling into Europe? Explore our export markets or get a quote, and we will help you plan a compliant launch.

Written by Lee Smith

Lee Smith is Group CEO of Supplement Factory. He writes about building supplement brands and contract manufacturing, and what founders need to know before they place a first order, from formulation and compliance through to getting a product made and to market.

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