Consumers for Health Choice began by defending your right to choose the supplements you take, so this is familiar ground — but with a serious edge. There is a real line between a high-street meal-replacement shake and a medically prescribed feed, and knowing where it sits matters for both health and cost.
Oral nutritional supplements you can buy yourself — protein shakes, fortified drinks — are useful for topping up the diet of someone eating poorly or recovering. They are food, broadly speaking, and choosing them is your call.
Prescription feeds are different. They are clinically formulated, often nutritionally complete, and prescribed when ordinary food and shop-bought supplements are no longer enough to meet someone’s needs. These are managed by a dietitian and, where tube-fed, become medical nutrition rather than a lifestyle choice.
The practical test is whether the person can meet their needs through normal eating plus a top-up, or whether a clinician has determined they cannot. The first is supplements; the second is prescribed nutrition. Our full guide maps the whole spectrum — read our home enteral feeding supplies guide.