Superfood or Superficial? Plasmon and the Birth of the Supplement Industry

Abstract

Abstract Beginning in the early twentieth century and continuing until the Great War, British consumers concerned with protecting or increasing their health were presented with a new and exciting product. Labeled “Plasmon,” this milk-based protein supplement promised to build nerve and flesh in equal measure. Used by explorers, scientists, athletes, and physical culturists, not to mention mothers and schoolchildren, Plasmon was marketed as a marvel of the modern age. Health foods had existed prior to Plasmon’s emergence, but none matched its advertising range. Citing Plasmon as a pivotal step in the transition from health foods to body-building supplements more generally, it is argued that Plasmon utilized ideas of science, gender, and sporting celebrity to promote its value to the British public. Though short-lived, Plasmon’s time in Britain predated the current supplement industry by nearly a century. Its study addresses a dearth in the literature regarding one of the most profitable sporting markets of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.