Buying in the UK: frequently asked questions
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Are food supplements regulated in the UK, and by whom?
Yes: food supplements are regulated as food, mainly under the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 (equivalent instruments apply across the UK), which set labelling and composition rules, with local authority Trading Standards and environmental health teams enforcing them.
Official guidance confirms that supplements “are required to be regulated as food and are subject to the provisions of general food law” (GOV.UK: Food supplements, checked 22 September 2026), alongside supplement-specific labelling rules on top of general food labelling law. The Food Standards Agency sets national policy and guidance; day-to-day enforcement against an individual seller is a local authority matter.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
Source: GOV.UK: Food supplements (checked 22 September 2026)
Is VAT charged on vitamins and supplements in the UK?
Yes: vitamin and mineral supplements are standard-rated for VAT (currently 20%), unlike most everyday food, which is zero-rated — this applies whatever form the supplement is sold in.
HMRC’s own guidance is direct on this: “vitamin and mineral supplements are standard-rated, whether they are supplied in pill, capsule, powder or liquid form” (HMRC internal manual VFOOD1960, checked 22 September 2026), and adding vitamins or minerals to an otherwise normal food does not change that food’s own VAT treatment. The prices we show are retailers’ selling prices, which already include any VAT due.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
Source: HMRC internal manual VFOOD1960: vitamin and mineral supplements (checked 22 September 2026)
What is the difference between a food supplement and a medicine?
A food supplement is regulated as a food; a medicine is regulated separately, with the line between the two decided mainly by the claims made about a product, not simply what is inside the capsule.
The MHRA, which decides borderline cases, explains that “food supplements that contain familiar substances like vitamins, amino acids or minerals are generally subject to food safety and food labelling legislation rather than medicines control unless presented for medicinal uses” (MHRA: borderline products guidance, checked 22 September 2026). This is why food supplement labels and marketing must stay within the specific, pre-approved claims the law allows, rather than describe what a product does for an illness.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
Source: MHRA: Borderline products — how to tell if your product is a medicine (checked 22 September 2026)
Can supplements make health claims on the pack? What is the GB nutrition and health claims register?
Only specific, pre-approved health claims can legally appear on a UK supplement label.
A claim that a product acts on any disease or condition is never allowed, whatever the ingredient. Which nutrition and health claims are permitted is controlled through the Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register, which “sets out all authorised and rejected nutrition and health claims”; “only authorised claims in the Great Britain NHC register may be used in Great Britain” (GOV.UK: Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register, checked 22 September 2026). This is also why PerDose itself makes no health claims anywhere on the site: we compare prices, not effects.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
Source: GOV.UK: Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register (checked 22 September 2026)
What is a "novel food", and why does it matter for supplements such as CBD?
A “novel food” is a food or ingredient without a significant history of being eaten in the UK or EU before 15 May 1997.
A novel food needs specific safety authorisation before it can legally be sold, on top of ordinary food and supplement labelling rules. CBD is the clearest current example: its novel food status “was confirmed in January 2019”, meaning “CBD extracts, CBD isolates…, CBD synthetic products, and any products to which they are added as an ingredient, are classed as novel foods” and require authorisation before lawful sale (FSA: Cannabidiol (CBD) guidance, checked 22 September 2026). Other newer ingredients — certain algae, insect proteins or novel extracts — can fall under the same rule.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
Source: FSA: Cannabidiol (CBD) guidance (checked 22 September 2026)
Is CBD legal to sell as a food supplement in the UK?
CBD food products can currently be sold only if they are linked to a credible novel food authorisation application the FSA has accepted for assessment.
The FSA states that “there are currently no CBD extracts or isolates that have been authorised as novel foods” outright, so no CBD product yet has full novel food approval. The FSA maintains a public list of CBD products linked to an accepted application, and has advised that products not on that list should be removed from sale (FSA: Cannabidiol (CBD) guidance, checked 22 September 2026). Separately, any CBD product must also stay within strict legal limits on controlled cannabinoids such as THC.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
Source: FSA: Cannabidiol (CBD) guidance (checked 22 September 2026)
What is Informed Sport / Informed Choice testing?
Informed Sport and Informed Choice are independent, batch-testing certification programmes that screen supplement batches for substances banned in sport.
They are run to help competing athletes avoid an accidental anti-doping failure from a contaminated product. A certified batch is tested against a defined list of banned substances before it goes on sale, and the certification is specific to that batch and testing standard, not a general safety or quality endorsement. It matters most for people who compete under an anti-doping code; for everyday buyers it is simply an extra layer of quality assurance some brands choose to pay for. We show a “tested” badge where a product carries such a claim, without independently verifying it ourselves.
See how the “tested” badge works on PerDose.
Can I return supplements bought online?
Generally yes: buying online counts as “distance selling” under UK consumer law, which gives you the right to cancel and return most items within 14 days, without needing to give a reason.
This applies even if the product itself is not faulty. UK guidance confirms that “online, mail and telephone order customers have the right to cancel their order for a limited time even if the item is not faulty”, with 14 days to notify the seller and a further 14 days to send the item back (GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds, checked 22 September 2026). Sealed items that cannot be returned once opened for health or hygiene reasons are a recognised exception, so check the specific retailer’s own returns policy.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
Source: GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds — the law (checked 22 September 2026)
What should I check about a marketplace seller before buying?
Check who is actually selling and dispatching the item, where they ship from, their return policy, and whether real contact details and a registered business are given.
A listing sometimes names a third-party seller (“sold by”) rather than the marketplace itself; that seller is a separate business, with its own stock, pricing and customer service, so the marketplace’s own reputation does not automatically vouch for every seller on it. Our tables show which retailer or seller a listing came from and where it ships from, so you can check this before clicking through.
Why do some products ship from outside the UK, and what does that mean for delivery?
Some retailers we compare are based, or hold stock, outside the UK, even though they sell in pounds and deliver here.
This can mean a longer delivery time, a customs or import consideration in some cases, and a returns process that may involve posting an item back further afield. We mark every offer with the country it ships from, and headline “cheapest” figures use UK-based sellers only by default; a toggle lets you include sellers shipping from outside the UK if you want to see the full picture, clearly marked so it is never mixed in silently with UK-only figures.
Toggle international sellers on or off on any table.
What does "sold by …" on a retailer's listing mean?
“Sold by” names the actual business fulfilling a specific listing, which is not always the retailer or marketplace whose name is most prominent on the page.
A large marketplace often hosts many separate sellers, each responsible for their own stock, price and dispatch of that particular listing. This matters because the seller, not just the platform, is who you are contracting with: their stock levels, dispatch time and returns process apply, not necessarily the platform’s own standard policy. Where our data distinguishes the seller from the platform, we show it; where a feed does not give us that detail, the retailer name shown is the best information we have.