Food or medicine? Perception study of borderline products

A variety of products with additional health benefits is available in the food market. Such “borderline products” appear to fit the description of food as well as drugs. Researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany studied how consumers perceive these borderline products.
They found that drug-like characteristics of the product (package, format, dosage) are likely to influence consumers' perception of borderline products towards seeing them as drugs. Although consumers perceived the products to be generally safe to consume, they did not seem to perceive them as an easy way to stay healthy. An article about the research was prepared for presentation at the 2016 conference of the GEWISOLA.
Click here for the article (200 kB).

If you have any questions about this subject, please contact us: info@nvc.nl, +31-(0)182-512411. This item is also included in our monthly overview, the NVC Members-only Update.