Internet Marketing of Cardioprotective Dietary Supplements

Considering high prevalence of use of dietary supplements and their easy access on the internet, the aim of this research was to examine and assess the prevalence of the internet marketing of heart-protective supplements as the most popular supplements of today, and to investigate the quality and quantity of information that are available to consumers on the sale websites. Three major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing) and keywords "cardiovascular supportive supplements online buy" were used to identify websites that sell cardioprotective dietary supplements. Content of first 50 listed websites in each engine was evaluated for its compliance with regulatory acts while information about supplements' efficacy and safety was compared with the results of the latest scientific research. Of a total of 150 listed websites, 89 selling supplements for the specific indication underwent further analysis. The most commonly registered cardioprotective dietary supplements on the internet were supplements based on omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3) (57 websites, 64.05%). Related to the websites selling omega-3 supplements, risk reduction claims were presented at 23 (40.35%), whereas structure or function claims were present at 50 (87.72%) analyzed websites, but followed with Food and Drug Administration disclaimer only on 68.00% of them. Information about adverse effects were rarely pointed out (1 website, 1.75%) unlike warnings, which were significantly more available to consumers (38, 66.67%). According to obtained results, most of the analyzed websites that sell omega-3 supplements did not contain all important medical information required by Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Since use of internet marketing is in expansion and since consumers have no access to relevant medical information about dietary supplements on the selling websites, there is a clear need for better quality control of websites and greater public awareness of these widely used products.