Are Supplement Strips the New Gummies?

July 6, 2026

For consumers who never quite enjoyed swallowing a handful of pills or choking down odd-tasting powders, supplement gummies felt like a long-overdue fix. They were easy to use and, for many, a sweet treat. But for the more health-conscious, the fine print made them pause. Many gummies would carry added sugars, artificial flavors and filler ingredients that sit alongside the wellness goals they’re supposed to support.

Now, a novel format may check a few more boxes, including delivery, taste, form factor and efficacy. Oral dissolving strips, thin films that dissolve on the tongue or roof of the mouth in just 30 seconds, are moving out of pharmaceutical applications and into the consumer supplement market.

The premise is that rather than swallowing a pill and waiting for the digestive system to break it down, a strip on the tongue dissolves, releasing the active compounds directly across the oral mucosa into the bloodstream.

In a conventional tablet or capsule, active compounds are embedded in a compressed matrix that must disintegrate, dissolve, survive gastric acid, transit the small intestine, pass through the intestinal epithelium and clear first-pass metabolism through the liver before reaching systemic circulation.

Elina Ivanova-Atanassov, CEO of Smart Strips, told Athletech News that depending on the compound, that breakdown process “may eliminate 40-60% of the functional dose before reaching the bloodstream.” Athletech News