All ingredients offered for sale in the U.S. are regulated by the FDA, USDA, and/or FTC, regardless of whether they are sold directly to consumers. Ingredient claims must align with the intended use in the market. We use the U.S. FDA’s Compliance Guide on Structure Function claims in evaluating claims. Claims about diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing disease could cause an ingredient to be classified as an unapproved drug. Explicit claims mention a specific disease or class of diseases such as cancer (anti-tumor), diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, osteoarthritis, COPD, fibromyalgia, ADHD, hyperthyroidism, etc.   

A statement is also a disease claim if it states an effect on a specific disease or class of disease by using descriptions of the disease state. Examples of such claims include and are not limited to, lessens chronic or acute cough, reduces inflammation, relieves headaches, protects against tumors, stops hair loss, pain relief, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-viral, and syndromes such as IBS and Metabolic Syndrome, and/or other known symptoms of diseases.   

Claims are also context dependent, for instance, relief from aches or stiffness due to overexertion and exercise could be acceptable, but when these claims are associated with arthritis, the claims would be non-compliant and subject to your account being placed on a Standards HOLD. Images, symbols, and vignettes can also establish an association with a disease. If disease is reasonably inferred by a typical audience from your words, graphics, populations studied, endpoints or context, you have a disease claim even without naming a disease. Structure Function claims are not acceptable for ingredients intended solely for cosmetic/topical applications.

Yes, please reference our Claims Guidance document for examples of unacceptable and acceptable claims.  

If non-compliant materials or claims are identified, SupplySide may require immediate onsite corrective actions during the event. Most often, non-compliant claims are addressed within a review message sent to the exhibitor primary contact we have for your account 1-2 weeks after the event. The Standards team may place the exhibitor account in Standards Hold status until the issue is resolved. During this time, booth contracting and invoicing activity will be paused until resolution is confirmed.  

A Standards HOLD is a flag on your account that pauses the contracting and billing processes until you resolve any outstanding non-compliance issues with our Standards department. A Standards HOLD may be applied to your account after an event at which non-compliant marketing materials were found at your exhibit.   

Yes. Exhibitors will receive a compliance review message identifying the non-compliant claims in the specific materials presented at the exhibit, along with the reason the claim(s) were identified as non-compliant and what type of changes are needed for future events. Compliance review messages are sent to the primary contact indicated on the account.

You may reply directly to the Standards compliance review message that was sent to your company. It will be sent from the address SupplySideCompliance@informa.com. If you did not receive this review message, please contact SupplySideCompliance@informa.com with any compliance related questions. 

The Standards team will offer general guidance. This may include instructions to remove specific claims or revise them into acceptable language appropriate to the intended use of the product. For instance, a structure function claim to support or maintain a healthy status, or any such claim that may be acceptable for a dietary ingredient product. Structure function claims are not acceptable for ingredients intended solely for cosmetic/topical applications. More comprehensive and specific recommendations can be obtained through our MarketReady Insights program.

All ingredients offered for sale in the U.S. are regulated by the FDA, USDA, EPA and the FTC (for paid advertising), regardless of whether they are sold directly to consumers. Ingredient claims must align with the intended use in the market. We rely on the U.S. FDA’s Compliance Guide on Structure Function claims in evaluating claims. Additionally, we use specialized software to help identify these types of claims. Starting at the 2026 SupplySide Global event, compliance fines will be assessed for non-compliant claims as described in question 1 above, with all potential violations requiring a final approval from a Market Integrity team manager before any fine is assessed or billed. Our entire review process follows an established Compliance program Implementation plan (select the Enforcement button). See below What is a Compliance Fine?)

Compliance violations can be immediately cleared with confirmed resolution by the exhibitor. However, they remain a permanent part of the account history with us. 

No. Non-compliant disease claims in an exhibit are a breach of your booth contract which states that you will adhere to the Compliance program.

A future booth reservation could be delayed or denied due to an unresolved non-compliance issue.

Our MarketReady Insights (MRI) team is standing by to assist you. Please contact our MRI team at MarketReadyInsights@informa.com.

Consistent enforcement starts with our Standards team — experienced reviewers with an average of 5+ years of industry experience who apply standardized criteria based on FDA Compliance Guides. To support their work and ensure consistency across all exhibitors, we also use specialized regulatory software to help identify potential non-compliant claims. All determinations are made by our reviewers, not by software alone. All exhibitors, regardless of size, are subject to the same standards and review process.

• Formal third-party training in regulatory compliance standards.
• Ongoing support from our dedicated regulatory consulting service.
• Regular in-house training programs to stay current with evolving regulations.

Our audience values compliance as a core part of their experience at our events, knowing product information has been properly reviewed. This results in a higher number of quality attendees as the integrity of the event increases. Currently, the Standards team identifies non-compliance at 15-19% of exhibits at SupplySide events. Without consequences for displaying non-compliant materials, there is less incentive for exhibitors to ensure regulatory compliance. Our goal is to enhance industry self-regulation while reducing non-compliant materials at our events, which directly contributes to the quality and credibility of our shows and upholds the high standards of our exhibitors.

The best way to avoid a Standards HOLD is to take advantage of our complimentary pre-screening service. Submit your marketing materials to SupplySideCompliance@informa.com  any time before your next event with us. If you are a new exhibitor, submit any time after you have reserved your booth. See the pre-screening questions below for full details.

We currently see 15-19% non-compliance at the events. Any reduction in this rate should indicate the effectiveness of the program over the first three years. We expect to see a 25% reduction in repeated non-compliance offenses in year 2 (2027 events). We expect to see under 10% non-compliance after year 3 (2028 events).

Submit your marketing materials to SupplySideCompliance@informa.com any time before your next event with us. If you are a new exhibitor, submit any time after you have reserved your booth. Please include your booth number in your submission. Reviews are completed within 5–7 business days. Pre-screening is complimentary.