Consumer Confidence in Dietary Supplements Remains Stable, Says CRN Survey

In the face of an economic recession and raids on companies selling tainted supplements, dietary supplement use appears to be steady, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs (Ipsos; Washington, DC) for the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN; Washington, DC).

The 2009 Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements found that 84% of Americans surveyed claim to be 'confident in the safety, quality, and effectiveness of dietary supplements,' compared with 81% in last year...s survey. This is also the highest recording of consumer confidence since the study...s inception in 2001.

A slight increase was also found in the amount of people who claim to use dietary supplements (65% in 2009, compared with 64% in 2008). These figures are only a few percentage points below 2008 and 2007 figures (68% and 66%, respectively).

CRN claims the 2009 results are hopeful, considering that three quarters of those surveyed claimed that they haven't changed their supplement purchasing habits due to the recession.

'We believe that responsible companies within the industry can take some of the credit for the continued rise in consumer confidence,' says Steve Mister, president and CEO of CRN. 'They have embraced new regulatory requirements, such as adverse event reporting and new Good Manufacturing Practices specific to dietary supplements.'

Increased industry regulation is also believed to have been a factor in the 2009 results.

Another high note for the industry came with a reported 78% of surveyed Americans taking daily multivitamins (an increase from 75% in 2008).

'As hard as they may try, many consumers recognize that daily stress and lack of time prohibit them from eating as well as they know they should,' says Judy Blatman, senior vice president of communications for CRN. 'They realize that they can...t meet all of their nutritional requirements through diet alone"We...re encouraged that consumers continue to look to the multivitamin to help round out their nutritional habits.'

The 2009 Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements surveyed 2043 adults from August 26 to September 1. Ipsos claims weighting was used to accurately represent U.S. census data.