What health claims can you legally make in the UK? (2026 guide for wellness brands)

As of August 2026, you can only make a health claim for a food or supplement in Great Britain if that claim is listed as authorised on the GB Nutrition and Health Claims (NHC) Register, maintained by the Department of Health and Social Care and last updated on 19 May 2026. Claims that a product prevents, treats or cures disease are banned outright under CAP Code rule 15.6.2. And enforcement is no longer complaint-driven: the ASA's AI-assisted monitoring system processed more than 60 million ads in 2025.

That is the whole legal position in four sentences. The rest of this guide explains what it means in practice for a small UK wellness or supplement brand writing its own product pages, emails and ads — in plain English, with examples of what passes and what does not.

What counts as a health claim in UK advertising?

A health claim is anything that states or implies a relationship between a food, drink or supplement (or one of its ingredients) and health. The word "implies" does most of the enforcement work. You do not need to write "clinically proven to fix your sleep" to make a claim — a product called "Deep Sleep Complex" next to a photo of someone waking up refreshed is making one too. The ASA judges claims by what an ordinary consumer takes from the ad, not by what you intended to say.

This matters because most small brands assume the rules only cover explicit medical statements. They cover product names, imagery, testimonials, hashtags, before-and-after framing and the general "vibe" of a page. If a reasonable person would conclude "this product will improve my health in this way", you have made a health claim and it needs to be authorised.

Where do I check whether a claim is authorised?

The single source of truth for Great Britain is the GB Nutrition and Health Claims Register, published free on GOV.UK by the Department of Health and Social Care. It lists every authorised claim, every rejected claim, and the conditions of use attached to each — typically a minimum quantity of the nutrient per serving.

Two things trip people up. First, claims are authorised for nutrients and ingredients, not for products. You can say "vitamin C contributes to the normal function of the immune system" if your product contains enough vitamin C to qualify as a source of it — you cannot transfer that claim to your product formulation as a whole ("our blend supports immunity"). The CAP Code requires the claim to name the specific nutrient. Second, holding the evidence is your job: under rule 15.1 you must have documentary proof that your product meets the claim's conditions of use before the ad runs.

Can I reword an authorised claim so it sounds less clinical?

Yes — within limits. The register wording is stiff ("contributes to the normal function of..."), and the ASA accepts rewording that keeps the same meaning for consumers. Swapping "contributes to" for "supports" or "helps keep" has been accepted. What you cannot do is quietly upgrade the claim: dropping the word "normal" — turning "contributes to normal cognitive function" into "improves cognitive function" — is treated as exaggeration and will be upheld against you. The test is always: does your version promise more than the authorised version? If it does, it fails.

What about botanicals like turmeric, ashwagandha or lion's mane?

This is where most wellness brands get burned. Almost no botanical ingredient has an authorised health claim on the GB register. A large group of botanical claims sits in a separate "on-hold" list — submitted before Brexit and never finally assessed — and their status is still under government consideration in 2026. On-hold claims may be used, but only if you stick to the proposed wording, hold robust evidence for the claim, and do not exaggerate it. In practice, that means the confident copy you see on many supplement sites — ashwagandha for stress, lion's mane for focus, turmeric for joints — is mostly unauthorised claim-making that survives only until the ASA's monitoring reaches it.

The practical workaround is formulation-led, not copy-led: many botanical products also contain vitamins and minerals precisely because those do carry authorised claims. A magnesium and ashwagandha blend can lawfully say "magnesium contributes to normal psychological function"; it cannot say "ashwagandha calms your nervous system".

What can you never say?

Three hard lines, whatever your evidence. Under CAP Code rule 15.6.2, you cannot state or imply that a food or supplement prevents, treats or cures human disease — and the ASA treats menopause symptoms, anxiety, insomnia and joint pain as medical territory, not lifestyle territory. Under rule 15.9 you cannot claim to treat a clinical vitamin or mineral deficiency. And under rule 15.8 you cannot suggest a balanced diet fails to provide adequate nutrients, or that supplements can replace healthy eating. If your copy names a condition and offers your product as the answer, it is not a grey area; it is the clearest breach in the code.

How are health claims enforced in 2026?

Until recently, the honest answer was "mostly when a competitor complains". That era is over. The ASA's Active Ad Monitoring system uses AI to scan advertising at a scale no complaints process could reach — more than 60 million ads processed in 2025 — and the ASA is running proactive sweeps of specific sectors, with supplements and women's health high on the list.

In March 2026 the ASA published rulings against three menopause supplement brands whose paid social ads were found by that AI review, upholding breaches for unauthorised menopause-symptom claims, unauthorised health claims about hormones and metabolism, and medicinal claims. Two of the three brands did not respond to the ASA at all — and the rulings were published anyway, under their names, permanently searchable. For a small brand, that public ruling is usually the real cost: it surfaces when customers, stockists and journalists search for you.

How do you write compliant copy that still sells?

Compliance and conversion are not enemies — vague hype converts worse than specific, credible copy. The working method we use at Mind the Shop is: first, list every claim your page makes, including implied ones (name, imagery, testimonials). Second, anchor each health benefit to an authorised nutrient claim from the register, reworded naturally but not upgraded. Third, move the persuasion into things you can freely say: ingredient quality and sourcing, transparent dosages, certifications, taste, texture, routine, and honest customer experience that stops short of health outcomes. A page built this way survives an ASA sweep and reads as more trustworthy to the customer — which is the same battle checked from a different angle as the five checks we recommend before spending anything on ads.

Mind the Shop is a UK web and growth studio founded by Andrea, who built the compliance architecture for a UK supplement brand end to end — every claim mapped to the GB NHC Register, with ASA/CAP and MHRA/FSA rules applied across the store — and has run marketing and paid ads inside a heavily regulated multinational financial group.

Frequently asked questions

Can I say my supplement "boosts immunity"?

Not as written. "Boosts" goes beyond the authorised wording. If your product contains enough vitamin C, vitamin D or zinc to meet the conditions of use, you can say that nutrient "contributes to the normal function of the immune system", naming the nutrient — and reword it gently ("supports normal immune function") without upgrading it.

Do the rules apply to my website and social media, or just paid ads?

They apply to both. The CAP Code covers your own website, product pages, emails and organic social posts as well as paid advertising. A claim that would be banned in a Facebook ad is equally banned on your homepage.

Are customer testimonials and reviews exempt?

No. A testimonial that implies a health effect ("this cured my insomnia") counts as a health claim made by your ad the moment you feature it. You are responsible for claims you republish, so testimonials need the same check as your own copy.

What actually happens if the ASA upholds a complaint against me?

The ruling is published on the ASA website under your brand's name, you are told to withdraw or change the ad, and non-cooperation can lead to further sanctions, including referral and having paid ads taken down through the platforms. The lasting damage for small brands is usually the searchable public ruling rather than a fine.

Where can I get my claims checked?

You can check every claim yourself against the GB NHC Register on GOV.UK — it is free. If you would rather have it done for you, Mind the Shop offers a wellness and supplement compliance audit: a full ASA/CAP and GB NHC review of your claims across labels, site and ads, with plain-English fixes, for a fixed £650, delivered within one to two weeks. Get in touch here — no retainer, no upsell pressure.