Amazon & Retailer Compliance for Supplements, NHPs & Functional Foods

Selling supplements and functional foods online or in retail stores is no longer as simple as putting up a product and waiting for orders. Platforms like Amazon and retailers like Whole Foods, Loblaws, and Sprouts have built their own compliance requirements on top of FDA, FTC, CFIA, and Health Canada rules.

That means before your product ever reaches the shelf or listing page, you need to pass multiple layers of review. If you don’t, you risk delays, rejected listings, account suspensions, or wasted inventory.

At Blue Ocean Regulatory, we specialize in Amazon and retailer compliance for dietary supplements, Natural Health Products (NHPs), and conventional foods. Our service ensures your brand clears these hurdles smoothly, avoids unnecessary rejections, and earns long-term trust with distributors and buyers.

Why Retailer Compliance is Different

Regulatory compliance is the baseline — but it’s not the whole picture.

  • Amazon has a proprietary set of requirements for supplements and foods that go beyond FDA rules. They often demand third-party testing, COAs from “Amazon-approved labs,” and full documentation for ingredients. They also monitor product pages for risky claims, often auto-flagging listings that use prohibited language like “cure” or “treat.”

  • Natural & Specialty Retailers (Whole Foods, CVS, Target, etc.) enforce their own banned ingredient lists and label standards. For example, Whole Foods has a list of hundreds of ingredients they won’t allow on shelves, from certain preservatives to artificial sweeteners. Loblaws applies CFIA rules but often adds stricter interpretations, particularly around allergen and bilingual labeling.

  • Mass Retail & Distribution (Costco, Walmart, Target, Shoppers Drug Mart) impose stricter documentation requirements — not just label accuracy, but also SOPs, GMP certifications, allergen controls, and audit readiness.

In short, clearing FDA or Health Canada requirements is not enough. You need a strategy that satisfies each retailer or platform you plan to sell through.

What Our Amazon & Retailer Compliance Service Covers

We help your brand prepare a retail-ready compliance quality program that anticipates questions before they come up.

1. Amazon Compliance Review

  • Pre-launch listing review for prohibited claims and keywords.

  • Amazon-specific COA and lab testing requirements (including formatting for upload).

  • Ingredient and label review against Amazon’s restricted categories.

  • Audit of bullet points, A+ content, and product images to ensure compliance with both Amazon and FDA/FTC rules.

  • Support in responding to compliance flags or “supplement gating” issues.

2. Retailer Policy Alignment

  • Review of formulas and labels against Whole Foods, Sprouts, Loblaws, and other retailer banned-ingredient lists.

  • Nutrition Facts/Supplement Facts alignment with store category requirements.

  • Verification of allergen declarations, gluten-free, vegan, and organic claims against retailer documentation standards.

  • Creation of compliance checklists for each target retailer to streamline product submissions.

3. Documentation Support

  • Preparation of Certificates of Analysis, GMP certifications, and audit reports often required by retailers.

  • FSVP documentation for imported products entering the U.S. market.

  • Support with NNHPD/Health Canada compliance for Canadian retail distribution.

4. Problem Resolution

  • Assistance with Amazon listing suspensions due to compliance flags.

  • Guidance on retailer rejection letters and re-submission strategies.

  • Risk assessment for future formulations or product launches to avoid repeat issues.

Common Issues We Catch Before Retailers Do

  • Amazon listings making implied disease claims like “reduces anxiety” or “treats inflammation.”

  • COAs submitted to Amazon missing the required format or not from an accepted lab.

  • Products labeled with “Supplement Facts” in Canada when “Nutrition Facts” or an NHP format is required.

  • Labels rejected by Whole Foods for containing disallowed sweeteners or “non-gmo” claims.

  • Loblaws rejections due to missing French translations or incomplete allergen labeling.

  • Incomplete GMP documentation when selling into Costco or Shoppers Drug Mart.

Each of these can result in costly delays — but they’re avoidable with the right pre-checks.

Why Brands Work With Us

Blue Ocean Regulatory has guided brands through launches on Amazon, U.S. natural retailers, and Canadian chains. We understand how to balance regulatory rules with retailer policies and have real-world experience troubleshooting Amazon suspensions, Whole Foods rejections, and cross-border compliance challenges.

Our expertise has been recognized in NutraIngredients USA, through guest speaking events at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, and on industry podcasts like The Nutracast Podcast. We bring that same authority and practicality to your brand.

Next Steps

If you’re preparing to list on Amazon or pitch to a retailer, don’t leave compliance to chance. The cost of rejection is far higher than the cost of preparation.

Schedule an Amazon & Retailer Compliance Review with Blue Ocean Regulatory today. We’ll ensure your supplements, NHPs, and functional foods meet platform, retailer, and regulatory requirements — so your brand is retail-ready from day one.