ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with dietary and nutritional supplements containing nutraceuticals, vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional products used to enhance and maintain health and wellness or prevent disease. The lines between pharmaceuticals, products that heal, and nutraceuticals, products that help maintain the well-being of a person, are merging. The chapter focuses on products compositions and determine whether any of the components presents a problem for the Muslim consumer. Pork gelatin is considered haram by Muslim consumers. Medicine that is used to cure disease and help overcome illness is considered exempt from halal food regulations. Nutritional food supplements, for the most part, are composed of botanicals and plant extracts. It is the animal-derived ingredients one has to avoid in formulating the supplements. Nutritional food products come in many physical forms such as powders, liquids, tablets, one-piece capsules, and two-piece capsules. Nutraceutical ingredients can also be incorporated into foods.
