In the public space, especially on the Internet, there are more and more offers of products with suggested antiviral properties or protection against SARS-Cov-2 infection. Many of them concern dietary supplements. We warn against using such offers.

Dietary supplements are a concentrated source of vitamins or minerals or other substances with a nutritional or other physiological effect.

Their purpose is to supplement a normal diet, they do not undergo clinical trials and do not have any pharmacological effects confirmed in studies.

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers provides that food information must not be misleading, in particular: as to the characteristics of a foodstuff, in particular as to its nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, country or place of origin, methods of production or manufacturing.

Food information must be accurate, clear and easy for consumers to understand. Therefore, labelling, presentation and advertising must not attribute to any food the property of preventing or treating a human disease or refer to such properties.

Only a medicinal product defined in the Pharmaceutical Law Act can demonstrate medicinal properties:a medicinal product is a substance or a mixture of substances presented as having properties for the prevention or treatment of disease occurring in humans or animals or administered for the purpose of making a diagnosis or for the purpose of restoring, correcting or modifying the physiological functions of the body through a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action” .

In accordance with the above-mentioned provisions, the provisions of the Pharmaceutical Law Act shall apply to a product that simultaneously meets the criteria of a medicinal product and the criteria of another type of product, in particular a dietary supplement, cosmetic or medical device, as defined in separate regulations.

To sum up – indicating in the labelling, presentation or advertising of foodstuffs, including dietary supplements, their medicinal properties (such as antiviral effects, treatment of influenza, protection against SARS-Cov-2 infection, treatment of COVID-19 infection) constitutes a violation of the law and is not supported by evidence-based medicine.

During the period of limited professional and social activity, quarantine and exposure to infections, our health-promoting behavior is important – healthy diet, adequate sleep, rest, recreation.

It is the use of a balanced, varied and healthy diet is one of the important factors in maintaining good health.

Supplementation may be used by people suffering from deficiencies of individual vitamins or minerals or when the diet does not provide sufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals, but it does not replace a healthy diet or treatment.

Source: https://gis.gov.pl/aktualnosci/ostrzezenie-przed-ofertami-dotyczacymi-przeciwwirusowych-produktow-spozywczych/