Are NMN supplements allowed in the EU?

NMN is one of the most popular names in the longevity world. You see it popping up everywhere as an NAD+ booster, often in the routines of well-known researchers. But before you order it, there's a question many people skip: is NMN actually allowed to be sold in the Netherlands and the rest of the EU?

The short answer: no. NMN is not approved as a food supplement in the EU. In this article, we explain what NMN is, why it's not legally available here, and what alternatives are suitable for supporting your NAD+ levels.

What is NMN?

NMN stands for nicotinamide mononucleotide. It is a so-called precursor to NAD+, meaning a substance the body can convert into NAD+. NAD+ is a coenzyme that plays a central role in your energy production and cell maintenance. For more details on how this works, read our article on what NAD+ is and how it works.

NMN owes its popularity to longevity research: since NAD+ levels decline with age, people are looking for ways to support them, and NMN is one of the best-known precursors. That explains the hype, but it says nothing about whether you can buy it here.

Is NMN allowed to be sold in the Netherlands and the EU?

This is where it gets concrete. In the European Union, NMN falls under the novel food regulation. A novel food is a food product without a significant consumption history in the EU before 1997, and such a substance can only be sold after a safety assessment by the EFSA and a formal authorization.

For NMN, this authorization does not exist. Applications are ongoing, and the first of these is in the EFSA assessment phase, but as long as it has not been completed, NMN is not approved as a food supplement in the EU.

Let's be clear: anyone selling NMN as a food supplement in the EU is in violation of the law. You'll find plenty of webshops online that still ship it to the Netherlands, often with impressive promises, but that doesn't make it legal or regulated. There is no European oversight of the quality, purity, and dosage of what you're getting. For a serious longevity routine, where you specifically want to know what you're consuming, that's not a basis to build on.

Why is NMN not (yet) approved?

The novel food procedure exists to ensure safety. A substance like NMN must first undergo a scientific safety assessment by the EFSA before it can be sold as a food supplement in the EU. This is not a judgment that NMN is necessarily unsafe, but rather that formal approval simply hasn't been finalized yet.

So, it's quite possible that NMN will be approved in the future. Until then, it is not a legal supplement in the EU, and that is the current state of affairs on which you base your decision.

The legal alternatives: NR and trigonelline

If you want to support your NAD+ with a precursor that is approved in the EU, nicotinamide riboside (NR) is the most obvious choice. Like NMN, NR is a precursor to NAD+, but it has two practical advantages: it is available in the EU and it has the largest human evidence base among NAD+ precursors.

A newer precursor is trigonelline, a natural substance found in coffee and fenugreek: promising and potentially the most powerful option, although research into it is still truly in development.

And this is precisely where the difference lies with the average webshop. We do not carry NMN, simply because it is not allowed. We also do not carry products with NAD+ itself as an active ingredient: that is an expensive detour, because your body must first break it down and then rebuild it, and the liposomal promises about it have not been independently proven. What you will find at BeatsWell has passed our Expert Standard: we look at production, absorbability, and independent tests, and only offer forms that are permitted and demonstrably absorbed, selected according to our selection process.

NMN or NR: what's the difference?

In terms of content, NMN and NR are very similar: both are precursors that the body can convert into NAD+. NMN is theoretically one step closer to NAD+, while NR has the largest amount of human research behind it and is considered the premium choice. In the EU, however, that discussion is settled by law: NR is allowed, NMN is not. If you want the full comparison, including what biohackers like Bryan Johnson think about it and why NR is often the premium choice, read our article on NR versus NMN.

NR and trigonelline: the legal route

NMN is an interesting NAD+ precursor, but not a legal food supplement in the EU. Providers who supply it anyway operate outside European regulations, without the associated quality control. If you want to support your NAD+, nicotinamide riboside (NR) and trigonelline are the permitted, controllable routes.

You can find the permitted, controllable forms in our NAD+ collection. If you want to know what else to look out for, read what really works and what is marketing.

Which precursor and dosage are right for you depends on what is going on in your body. You don't have to guess: with the right blood values, you can see where you stand, and you measure those with the annual BeatsWell blood test.