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According to a survey conducted by the DGCCRF, the restrictions on use concerning melatonin-based food supplements are not sufficiently well disseminated to the most vulnerable populations, such as children.
The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) pinpoints melatonin-based food supplements. According to the government agency, the boxes containing these substances, often taken to improve the quality of sleep, are not explicit enough with regard to “sensitive populations”, such as children or pregnant women.
What is melatonin?
A hormone naturally present in our body, melatonin has the function of regulating our sleep rhythm. During jet lag or insomnia problems, melatonin is generally taken as self-medication. Indeed, being over the counter in pharmacies, it remains quite easy to access.
Recommendations not clear enough
The problem, for the DGCCRF, is that the producers of these supplements practice “a very heterogeneous integration of recommendations for sensitive populations“. While it is widely used – the DGCCRF notes an increase of 700 new references between 2019 and 2021 – melatonin may not be recommended for certain people. Among them, we can mention pregnant women, children and adolescents, and patients with chronic diseases such as asthma or epilepsy.
But many food supplements do not remind the buyer of these safety instructions, according to the survey carried out in 2021 by the DGCCRF covering around fifty products. Another observation: following the example of ANSES, which had already pointed this out in its report on food supplements in 2018, the DGCCRF also notes that melatonin is often mixed with other active compounds.
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Call for the vigilance of fragile people
Following this survey, the DGCCRF therefore calls the most sensitive consumers to “vigilance” and encourages them to seek advice from a health professional before taking a melatonin-based supplement.
Reassuring fact nevertheless: the agency indicates that most of these products do not have a problem of dosage. The melatonin levels indicated correspond both to what the supplements contain and comply with the recommendations of ANSES, namely 2 mg per dose. Only downside: the boxes do not specify which dosage to take for which indication, namely 1 mg for better sleep and 0.5 mg for jet lag.
In France, regulations authorize the marketing of food supplements providing less than 2 mg of melatonin per day.