Food supplements, that include vitamins and minerals, may be made available in supermarkets in future so long as there is a person trained in understanding the health aspects.

This is one of the options up for consultation through a white paper on food supplements launched this morning.

The White Paper will explore options for points of sale of food supplements such as whether the sale will be restricted to pharmacies, health shops or whether it will be widened to include general retail markets and sold with other food products. In the case of the latter suggests introducing a tracking system to ensure consumers can ensure they are being offered approved supplements

Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia said that over the years the use of food supplement increased with people even buying them over the internet. The government wanted to strengthen the law, last updated in 2003, to better protect the consumer and the market.

For this reason the white paper would look into allowing supplements to be sold outside pharmacies so long as there is a person responsible. At the moment these supplements are sold in some health shops but are not available in supermarkets.

The consultation paper is also suggesting the setting up of a notification webpage through which people who are buying supplements from abroad, for personal use, can notify the health authorities about the purchase and produce a doctor’s prescription in the case of supplements that require a prescription. This webpage would simplify the notification system and make it more user-friendly. It will also allow for the scrutiny of registered products.

The consultation will continue until January 17 and will run in parallel with the consultation on the review to the pharmacy of your choice scheme.