Is creatine the new collagen?
What the food industry should know before jumping on the next functional ingredient trend
Just a few years ago, collagen dominated the functional ingredient space. Included in everything from snack bars and confectionery to beverages, it quickly evolved from a niche supplement into a mainstream ‘cosmetic and wellness’ addition.
Today, creatine seems to be following a similar trajectory – quickly gaining broader appeal beyond the sports and fitness community. Creatine has traditionally been used for performance and recovery, but recent shifts in consumer interest are towards longevity, cognitive wellness, and everyday vitality.
For product developers, this boom has inspired opportunity. However, as in the case of collagen, there are important regulatory boundaries that must be considered.
Under the Regulations Relating to the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs (R. 146/2010), the use of health claims on food products – both explicit and implied claims – is not permitted. This has critical implications for ingredients such as creatine that are widely recognised by consumers for their purported health benefits.
In practice, this means:
- You cannot claim health benefits (e.g. recovery, muscle support, cognitive enhancement, etc.)
- You cannot promote benefits through wording, branding or imagery. Indirect cues such as product names, imagery, taglines or marketing context could be interpreted as implied health claims.
- One could even argue that even adding creatine as an ingredient could imply that a product will have a physiological benefit.
For the food industry, this creates a delicate balance: leveraging consumer interest in trending ingredients, while avoiding non-compliant messaging.
Some suggestions to NPD teams who want to stay compliant amid the hype:
- Position products around premiumisation rather than function.
- Only use permitted nutrient content claims, and ensure that all consumer touchpoints – packaging, website, social media – are aligned, and do not collectively imply a health benefit. This applies not only to labelling but also to advertising as a whole.
For the South African food industry, success will depend on navigating this space carefully: delivering products that resonate with consumers, while staying firmly within the boundaries of R. 146.
Trends come and go, but regulatory compliance remains constant. Creatine may be the next big ingredient; but without the ability to communicate its perceived benefits, how it is positioned will define whether it becomes a sustainable success or a short-lived fad.
For guidance on your product’s regulatory compliance, contact our team.