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Huel is reprimanded by the UK ASA for unauthorised health claims, plus mulberry microbiome research, a brain health studio launch, and a $300M hemp drink market.
Huel just got a public ruling from the UK ad watchdog — and it's a warning for every functional brand making video content. Plus mulberry science, brain health studios, and hemp beverage data that reframes the relaxation category.
In this episode:
The Health Marketing Daily is a concise briefing for marketers and founders in supplements, functional food and consumer health, hosted by Marco & Klara. New episode every day.
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Also from Marco & Klara: The FMCG Marketing Daily · The Digital Commerce Daily
The daily briefing for professionals in health, nutrition, and wellness marketing. Every episode covers an ingredient of the day, the latest science and regulatory updates from EFSA and beyond, and the brand and market moves shaping the nutraceutical industry. Hosted by Klara and Marco — evidence-based, no hype, no bro-science. Built for formulators, brand managers, regulatory affairs teams, and anyone building in the health and nutrition space.
Marco: Four strong stories lined up for you today.
Klara: We're kicking off with Huel getting a slap from the ASA — a real-world lesson in where health marketing crosses the line.
Marco: Then we've got new mulberry research that gut health brands will want to know about.
Klara: Plus a brain health studio concept and a $300 million hemp drinks market.
Marco: Let's get into it.
Marco: Huel just got a formal slap from the UK's ad watchdog — and the whole functional nutrition category should be paying attention.
Marco: Huel is one of Europe's most recognised meal replacement brands. The UK Advertising Standards Authority — the ASA — is the body that investigates complaints about misleading or harmful advertising. When the ASA rules against you, that ruling is public, permanent, and searchable.
Marco: In this case, the ASA found that an online video from Huel contained unauthorised health claims and ruled it irresponsible. That means Huel made claims about what its product does for the body that aren't on the approved list. In the UK and EU, you can only make health claims that regulators have specifically signed off on. Huel's video didn't clear that bar.
Klara: What strikes me here is the format. This wasn't a label or a product page. It was a video. Brands often treat social and video content as looser territory — more storytelling, less compliance scrutiny. That thinking is wrong. The same rules that apply to your packaging apply to your Instagram Reels and your YouTube ads. The claim is the claim, regardless of the medium.
Marco: Commercially, I understand the pressure. Consumers want to know why a product is worth their money. Bland, claim-free content doesn't convert. But I'd argue that brands lean too heavily on implied health narratives when they haven't done the regulatory groundwork to back them up.
Klara: That's where I'd push back slightly on the sympathy. Huel has the resources and the profile to get this right. This isn't a small startup navigating complex rules for the first time.
Marco: Fair challenge. The precedent is now set. Every brand with video content should be auditing it this week.
Marco: Now, let's move to our next story.
Klara: New research suggests that compounds found in mulberry can reshape the gut microbiome in ways that support both intestinal health and metabolism.
Klara: The gut microbiome is the community of bacteria living in your digestive system. We've known for years that this community influences digestion, immunity, and inflammation. What's newer is the evidence connecting microbiome changes directly to metabolic outcomes — things like blood sugar regulation and weight management.
Klara: This study found that specific mulberry-derived compounds altered gut bacteria in ways associated with better intestinal health and metabolic function. Importantly, certain combinations of those compounds showed stronger effects than others — which points toward synergistic formulation. That's a meaningful signal for ingredient developers.
Klara: I want to be precise about what this research does and doesn't give us. It shows mechanistic potential — a plausible biological pathway. That's genuinely useful science. But it doesn't hand brands a compliant health claim. Under EU regulation EC 1924/2006, you can only communicate what EFSA has specifically authorised. Right now, mulberry doesn't have an EFSA-approved health claim for gut health or metabolism. So the science can inform your formulation strategy. It cannot yet write your label copy.
Marco: Commercially though, the timing is striking. Consumers are searching for natural metabolic support — partly driven by the conversation around GLP-1 drugs, the injectable weight-loss medications that have dominated health media. Mulberry is an approachable, recognisable plant name. It doesn't sound clinical or synthetic. Brands could credibly build a gut-plus-metabolic positioning around it, especially in Germany and the Nordics where botanical ingredients carry real consumer trust.
Klara: The ingredient story is credible. The marketing story needs careful legal review before it goes anywhere near a product page.
Marco: Let's move to our next story.
Marco: Serial wellness entrepreneurs are moving from sweat to synapses — and they're bringing serious commercial firepower with them.
Marco: Physical fitness has been the anchor of the wellness industry for decades. But consumer interest is shifting. Brain health — covering focus, memory, stress resilience, and cognitive longevity — is now one of the fastest-growing segments in the entire wellness market. Operators who built empires around the body are taking notice.
Marco: The founders behind sauna franchise SweatHouz and the iconic P90X home fitness programme are jointly launching what they're calling a daydream studio — a dedicated experiential venue built around brain health. The venture is backed by Founders Row, an Atlanta-based firm with a track record of scaling wellness brands. This isn't a pivot driven by desperation. These are operators who know how to build category-defining concepts and scale them commercially.
Marco: What excites me here is the channel model. Cognitive health has lived on supplement shelves. Now it's moving into physical spaces — studios, memberships, experiential environments. That creates a completely new distribution logic for nutraceutical brands. If your brain health supplement can sit inside a premium wellness studio, you're reaching consumers at the exact moment they're invested in the category. That's far more powerful than a listing in a pharmacy.
Klara: The experiential angle is smart. But I'd pump the brakes slightly on the cognitive health category overall. The science underpinning many brain health products is thin. EFSA — Europe's food safety authority — has authorised very few health claims in this space. Most cognitive health marketing in supplement aisles is built on borderline claims or vague wellness language. A glamorous studio environment doesn't strengthen the underlying evidence.
Marco: That's a fair challenge. But the commercial momentum here is real. When operators of this calibre make a category bet, European wellness investors and retail buyers will be watching closely.
Marco: Our final story is up next.
Klara: A $300 million intoxicating hemp beverage market in the US has just handed European wellness brands a very clear consumer brief.
Klara: Hemp drinks containing THC — the psychoactive compound in cannabis — have grown rapidly in states where regulations permit them. Europe is nowhere near legalising that category. But consumer behaviour data from a market that size tells you something fundamental about what people actually want from a drink.
Klara: The headline finding is this: relaxation and stress relief are the primary reasons people are buying these products. Not curiosity about cannabis. Not recreation. Stress. Anxiety. The need to switch off. That need exists just as strongly in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Manchester as it does in Texas.
Marco: And that's where this gets commercially interesting. European brands already have the ingredients to address that need state — ashwagandha, L-theanine, lemon balm, magnesium. These are established, legal, and in several cases they carry EFSA-authorised health claims. The science is there. The distribution is there. What I'm not sure is bold enough is the messaging.
Klara: I'd agree on the opportunity, but I want to flag the regulatory line clearly. Stress relief is a tightly regulated claim area under EC 1924/2006. You cannot simply say your drink reduces stress. What you can do is build around authorised claims — for instance, magnesium contributes to normal psychological function — and construct a credible relaxation narrative around those anchor claims.
Marco: That's exactly where smart brands will pull ahead. Consumers are spending three hundred million dollars to feel calmer. That demand doesn't disappear at European borders. The brands that find a legally defensible, emotionally resonant way to own relaxation in the drinks aisle are sitting on a significant white space.
Klara: The signal is clear. The question is who moves fast enough to act on it.
Marco: Today's single biggest lesson — the brands winning right now are the ones matching a credible scientific story to a genuine consumer need, without overclaiming.
Klara: And overclaiming is exactly what ends that run — one ASA ruling can undo years of brand equity.
Marco: Credibility is the most valuable ingredient on the shelf.