Abstract
Food supplement labels distinguish declared active ingredients from excipients, but this distinction does not address whether a declared active ingredient makes a substantive supplemental contribution in the form and quantity used. This Perspectives article proposes the term perception filler as an analytical and descriptive construct for identifying situations in which a declared ingredient may contribute more to the perceived completeness or strength of a formulation than to an interpretable nutritional or botanical contribution. The concept is most relevant to low quantities of raw botanical powders presented among active ingredients, particularly where the declared form provides no basis for estimating active constituent content. Existing regulatory taxonomies governing supplement formulation (active ingredients, excipients, and proprietary blends) do not capture this category: a raw botanical powder declared in the active panel is classified as an active ingredient by default, without any mechanism for evaluating whether its form and declared quantity reflect a substantive supplemental contribution. Using turmeric powder as the primary illustrative example, this article distinguishes perception fillers from excipients, proprietary blends, extract equivalence labelling, and botanical adulteration. It proposes working criteria for identification and argues for clearer disclosure of botanical ingredient form and standardisation percentage where applicable. The concept does not depend on agreed dose thresholds; it rests on the observation that certain declarations are more likely to contribute to a product’s formulation narrative than to its stated supplemental function.
Introduction
Food supplement labels do more than list ingredients. They create an impression of formulation strength, scientific intent, and relevance to a consumer’s health goals. A product with a long list of recognisable botanicals may appear more comprehensive than one with fewer ingredients, even where some listed ingredients are present in forms or quantities unlikely to contribute substantively to the product’s intended purpose.
This paper proposes the term perception filler to describe that gap. The term was first introduced in a consumer-facing guide to supplement label interpretation [1] and is developed here as an academic construct for a specific labelling pattern: an ingredient that is presented as part of the active formulation but whose declared form and quantity are more likely to support the product’s perceived completeness than to provide an interpretable nutritional or botanical contribution.
The need for a term arises because existing regulatory categories do not separate ingredient presence from ingredient contribution. Food supplement labels distinguish active ingredients from excipients, and excipients from proprietary blend ingredients. Each category reflects, at least in principle, a different relationship between an ingredient and the product’s purpose. But none captures an ingredient that appears in the active panel, is individually declared, and is presented as contributing to the product’s supplemental function, yet is present in a form and at a quantity whose relationship to that function cannot be assessed from the label alone, and whose primary contribution is more plausibly to the formulation narrative (the impression it creates by its presence on the active panel).
The purpose is not to single out any ingredient or product, and it is not to propose a new category that should appear on supplement labels. Many ingredients can be used meaningfully in one form, dose, or context and be uninformative in another. The purpose is to name a labelling pattern that sits between existing categories. This labelling pattern is not adequately described as an excipient, because the ingredient appears among actives. It is not necessarily a proprietary blend, because the quantity may be declared. It is not adulteration, because the declared ingredient may genuinely be present. It is a problem of contribution and interpretability: the ingredient’s presence on the label may communicate more than the declared form and quantity can substantiate. Naming this pattern is a prerequisite for studying its prevalence, informing regulatory responses, and enabling more meaningful consumer communication.
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Abdulrahman Alsawadi, The Perception Filler: A Proposed Conceptual Framework for Ingredient-Interpretation Gaps in Food Supplements, The Journal of Nutrition, 2026, 101803, ISSN 0022-3166, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101803.
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