The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Composition of Dietary Supplements and Functional Foods Notified in Poland

Kacper Wróbel, Anna Justyna Milewska, Michał Marczak and Remigiusz Kozłowski
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Kacper Wróbel: Department of Management and Logistics in Healthcare, Medical University of Lodz, 90-131 Lodz, Poland
Anna Justyna Milewska: Department of Statistics and Medical Informatics, Medical University of Bialystok, 15-089 Bialystok, Poland
Michał Marczak: Department of Management and Logistics in Healthcare, Medical University of Lodz, 90-131 Lodz, Poland
Remigiusz Kozłowski: Department of Emergency Medicine and Disaster Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, 92-212 Lodz, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-26

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a strong impact on numerous areas of everyday life. The aim of this study was to check how the pandemic influenced the composition of dietary supplements and other functional food products placed on the market till March 2021, compared to 2019. For this purpose, data concerning the registered products and reports of popularity of online searches of terms connected with vitamins and minerals were used. The results of the study made it possible to determine the group of ingredients especially popular during the pandemic. Their use in products after the announcement of the pandemic was significantly higher than in the preceding period. In conclusion, it can be shown that the pandemic changed the ingredients used in functional foods—mainly as far as vitamins and minerals are concerned. The highest proportional increase in its use in dietary supplements was noted for potassium. Personalized therapy has also become more popular, promoted by one of the manufacturers of dietary supplements active during the pandemic. Moreover, different phases of the pandemic were characterized by the popularity of different ingredients among the consumers—first, these were immunity-boosting ingredients, then those that improved psychological functions, and finally mixtures with universal health effects.

Keywords: dietary supplements; COVID; vitamins; minerals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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