Creatine, proteins, and other supplements conquer supermarkets: the laws that regulate a business of more than 2 billion in Spain

The sports supplements have jumped from specialized stores to the shelves of large food chains. Creatine, whey protein, collagen, amino acids, and pre-workout preparations now coexist with yogurts, milk, desserts, bars, and enriched drinks within a market that exceeds 2 billion euros in Spain.

This expansion is subject to a regulation shared between Spain and the European Union. Although they are promoted through references to performance, recovery, or muscle mass, these products have the legal status of food and not of medicines. The difference determines what controls they must pass, what they can promise, and what information they are required to provide to the consumer.

The law considers sports supplements food, not medicines

The first relevant distinction is legal. Sports supplements are marketed as food and are subject to food legislation, unless their composition, presentation, or advertising attributes them properties typical of a medicine.

This means that a supplement does not need to pass the authorization procedure required for a drug nor demonstrate its therapeutic efficacy beforehand. It must be safe, contain permitted ingredients, comply with labeling standards, and notify its market entry to the competent authorities.

Not all sports products receive the same classification either. A jar of creatine with a recommended daily dose can be sold as a dietary supplement. A bar, a protein yogurt, or a drink with electrolytes are usually considered conventional foods, even though they use similar ingredients and claims.

The classification depends on the composition, presentation, and consumption instructions, not just on where it is sold or the audience it is aimed at.

The laws regulating sports supplements in Spain

The main Spanish regulation is the Royal Decree 1487/2009, relating to dietary supplements. This provision incorporated the European Directive 2002/46/EC into national law and establishes the requirements for composition, marketing, and labeling.

The royal decree defines dietary supplements as products intended to complete the normal diet, made up of concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect and marketed in doses.

The regulation was modified by the Royal Decree 130/2018, which expanded the Spanish list of substances with nutritional or physiological effects that can be used in its manufacture.

The national framework is completed with general legislation on food safety, hygiene, traceability, official controls, and consumer protection. The autonomous communities participate in the reception of marketing communications and in the monitoring of products present in the market.

The European regulation: safety, labeling, and advertising

The European Union establishes a large part of the rules that manufacturers and distributors must comply with. Among the fundamental provisions are:

• Directive 2002/46/EC: harmonizes the regulation of food supplements and establishes the vitamins and minerals that can be used, as well as their authorized forms.
• Regulation 178/2002: sets the general principles of food legislation, including the obligation to market safe food and ensure its traceability.
• Regulation 1169/2011: regulates the information provided to the consumer, the list of ingredients, allergens, nutritional declaration, and product presentation.
• Regulation 1924/2006: determines what nutritional and health claims can be used in labeling and advertising.
• Regulation 432/2012: contains the European list of authorized health claims and the conditions for using them.
• Regulation 2015/2283: applies to new foods or ingredients without a significant consumption history in the European Union.
• Regulation 2017/625: establishes the European system of official controls on food and food operators.

Since the application of Regulation 609/2013, the European Union no longer maintains a differentiated legal category for foods intended for intense muscle wear. Products aimed at athletes must be classified as food supplements or conventional foods.

Communicating a supplement does not mean that Health has approved it

Before marketing a food supplement in Spain, the manufacturer, importer, or responsible party for its first placing on the market must communicate it to the competent authority and present a copy of the label.

Communication must take place before or at the same time that marketing begins. When the responsible company has its registered office in Spain, it generally presents itself before the corresponding autonomous community. In other cases provided for by the regulations, the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition, AESAN. may intervene.

This procedure allows for the start of sales, but does not constitute prior authorization or a certification of effectiveness. That a product has been communicated does not mean that the Ministry of Health or AESAN recommend it, endorse its effects, or have individually verified all its commercial promises.

The authorities may subsequently review its composition and labeling, request documentation, take samples, conduct inspections, immobilize it, or withdraw it if they detect a risk or a breach.

The principle of mutual recognition opens the European market

The composition of food supplements is not fully harmonized across the European Union. There are substances that may be regulated differently in each member state.

In these cases, the principle of mutual recognition applies. A supplement legally marketed in another EU country can access the Spanish market, unless the authorities justify a restriction for reasons such as health protection. This mechanism facilitates the circulation of European supplements, but also requires administrations to verify whether the ingredients, doses, and conditions of use are compatible with food safety.

When the product comes from a third country, the importer established in the EU assumes the responsibility of ensuring its compliance with European regulations.

What must appear on the label

Food supplements must be marketed pre-packaged. Their label must include, at least:

• The designation "food supplement".
• The nutrients or substances that characterize the product.
• The amount of each substance per daily dose.
• The recommended daily dose.
• The warning not to exceed that amount.
• The indication that they should not be used as a substitute for a balanced diet.
• The warning to keep them out of the reach of children.
• The list of ingredients and allergens.
• The net quantity, batch, and the date of minimum durability or expiration.
• The identity and address of the responsible company.

The mandatory information of products marketed in Spain must be available in Spanish. If sold online, a good part of this data must appear before completing the purchase and not only when the consumer receives the packaging.

Advertising cannot promise to cure diseases

Sports supplements cannot claim properties to prevent, treat, or cure diseases. They also cannot be presented as substitutes for a balanced diet nor suggest that a varied diet is generally insufficient. Claims about their benefits are regulated by European Regulation 1924/2006. Only authorized statements can be used and only if the product meets the established conditions.

The European Union allows, for example, to state that proteins contribute to the increase and maintenance of muscle mass when the food meets the requirements to be considered a source of protein.

It also authorizes indicating that creatine improves physical performance in successive bouts of brief high-intensity exercises. This claim requires informing that the beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of three grams and is aimed at adults who perform high-intensity exercise.

The existence of an authorized statement does not allow freely expanding it. A company cannot transform those messages into promises of healing, weight loss, elimination of injuries, or guaranteed sports results.

The same rules apply to advertising carried out by influencers, trainers, or athletes. A promotion on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube cannot attribute to the product properties that the brand would be prohibited from advertising directly.

From the sports store to the supermarket

The increase in demand has brought these products to the shelves of large chains. Alcampo has a sports nutrition section and sells its own brand whey protein. Carrefour offers creatine, proteins, and other preparations both in its supermarket and on its digital platform. Mercadona has just announced the marketing of creatine. Lidl has also joined the trend. DIA has incorporated foods enriched with dietary supplements... No one wants to be left out of a boom whose peak is still not in sight.

As we have pointed out, the expansion of this type of products takes two forms: the first is the direct sale of concentrated substances -bottles of creatine monohydrate, protein powder, capsules, amino acids, or pre-workout formulas-, the second is the incorporation of ingredients associated with sports and wellness into everyday foods. The claims "high in protein," "with collagen," "with magnesium" or "with vitamins" can already be found in milk, yogurts, desserts, drinks, cereals, and bars.

The consumer can thus buy the isolated supplement or choose an enriched food.

Alongside this leap to supermarkets, the direct sale of supplements has gained space in specialized food stores and sports stores, where chains like Decathlon present complete aisles of products that can overwhelm the less familiar customer.

A market that exceeds 2,000 million in Spain

Sports nutrition is part of the broader market of dietary supplements. The Spanish Association of Dietary Supplements (AFEPADI) -a private non-profit business organization founded in 1943- places its volume in Spain above 2,000 million euros annually (2,100 million in 2025) and considers the country the fourth largest market in the European Union, behind Italy, Germany, and France.

There is no public statistic that allows for the precise separation of sales of creatine, proteins, and other sports supplements. The available studies may also include vitamins, minerals, hair products, beauty supplements, clinical nutrition, or functional drinks. However, the overall evolution maintains an upward trajectory. According to data from the consulting firm IQVIA released by AFEPADI, sales of dietary supplements in pharmacies and parapharmacies grew by 8.6% in value during 2024, the largest increase of the previous four years.

In 2025, this channel increased another 6% in physical establishments and around 7% when including online sales. The entry into supermarkets expands the potential market by placing these products within the ordinary basket and favoring the development of private labels.

According to the Ipsos report prepared for AFEPADI, within the framework of the Dietary Supplements Observatory of Afepadi (2024), 82% of Spaniards claimed to have taken some dietary supplement in the last year.

On a continental scale, according to AFEPADI, the dietary supplements sector generates around 33 billion euros (Euromonitor data corresponding to 2023), "which confirms the strength and potential of this industry linked to health and wellness."

Why the supplement business is growing

The expansion responds to a combination of social and commercial changes: the increase in gym users and strength training, the inclusion of women and older people, the interest in preserving muscle mass during aging, the spread of creatine and proteins on social media, promotion by trainers, athletes, and influencers; the growth of online sales and subscriptions, the arrival of private label brands from supermarkets; the emergence of drinks, desserts, bars, and other prepared formats and the commercial association between sports, health, wellness, and aesthetics.

Buying at the supermarket does not guarantee that it is necessary

Finally, it is worth noting that the fact that a supplement is sold in a large chain does not mean that it is necessary for all consumers nor that the Administration has certified its effectiveness.

The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) -a public body dependent on the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030-  reminds that these products should not replace a varied and balanced diet and that the indicated daily dose should not be exceeded. Fortified foods are not automatically healthier: their complete composition, the content of sugar, fats, and salt, and the actual amount of the ingredient used as a claim must be evaluated.