The nutraceuticals industry continues to evolve and mature alongside greater scientific understanding of how dietary ingredients affect health. At the same time, more sophisticated product development and targeted delivery of nutritional components will help position the industry for long-term, sustained success. 
 
According to Adam Ismail, executive director of the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3 (GOED), “More new sources of omega-3 oils are being launched right now than in the entire first 30 years of the industry combined,” driven largely by long-term market demand outstripping supply and disruptions in the Peruvian anchovy fishery. 
 
Additionally, 231 randomized controlled trials were published on omega-3s in 2016, making it “the most prolific year for omega-3 studies in history,” said Anne Healy, senior marketing manager for DSM Nutritional Products. “In 85% of these trials, the authors concluded that omega-3s were beneficial. Through March 2017, there are over 33,000 citations found in PubMed for omega-3s (EPA and DHA).”
 
Overall, in recent years, “There’s been a tidal wave, an explosion of clinical research,” according to renowned cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra, who presented about healthy aging solutions for a recent Nutraceuticals World webinar sponsored by Capsugel, now a Lonza company. For example, he noted there were about 1,400 peer-reviewed papers published on astaxanthin alone in 2016. 
 
“Right now the nutraceuticals industry is blossoming,” said Dr. Sinatra. “There’s so many great options for people to improve their health. It’s not just the ingredient, but it’s the delivery system—the newer delivery systems that are coming out where you can deliver targeted nutritional support for specific areas of the body, like crossing the blood-brain barrier and supporting the retina of the eye. I think going forward this is going to be one of the great promises in protecting public health.” 
 
Marketers may find themselves challenged to communicate dietary supplement research to consumers. Thankfully, a loyal supplement customer base seems more educated and accepting of scientific conclusions than the average American. But nutritional science itself continues to evolve and messaging may need to get creative in order to appeal to those who may benefit most from supplements and fortified foods and beverages. 
 
Additionally, product developers need to strike a balance between offering effective products that contain added functional ingredients with the clean label, non-GMO, minimally processed movement that has shown no signs of slowing.