By James Gormley via www.thegormleyfiles.blogspot.com At the end of 2007, the U.S. dietary supplement industry recorded sales of $23.7 billion, according to Nutrition Business Journal. With roughly 33,000 dietary supplements on the U.S. market, it’s no surprise that with today’s nutritionally challenged diet there were 192 million Americans using supplements in 2007, a number that is expected to keep growing….
DSHEA Under Fire
By Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA via www.honestnutrition.com 1. Some have stated that the dietary supplement industry is largely “unregulated”. My response: This is not really a fair statement considering that recent regulatory efforts – supported by that same industry – have clamped down on the industry’s freedom to operate outside the regulatory system. Drug and dietary supplement regulation are…
By Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA via www.honestnutrition.com Once again, a widely distributed article has savagely attacked the safety and efficacy of natural products; including vitamins, minerals, and herbs. That this article may be more commentary than journalism is immediately revealed by the author inexplicably linking energy medicine (with admitted health benefits for patients) with a concocted image of “shooing…
By James Gormley via www.thegormleyfiles.blogspot.com If retailers ask their customers about dietary supplement safety, they’re bound to get a variety of responses, especially considering that quality and safety often go hand-in-hand. In terms of quality, Vitamin Retailer magazine’s 2007 Annual Retailer Survey showed that the percentage of retailers who identify “high quality” as the most important element of their store’s…
By James Gormley via www.thegormleyfiles.blogspot.com A public-service ad that first aired in December 1993 showed camouflaged Federal agents equipped in full Special Forces gear, including night vision and weapons converging on Mel Gibson, who says, in defense, as he holds up a supplement bottle: “Hey. Guys. Guys. It’s only vitamins.” Before DSHEA This call-to-action video warned consumers that the Federal…
By James Gormley via www.thegormleyfiles.blogspot.com DSHEA, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, is the law which protects our access to dietary supplements and to truthful information about them; it also provides for the quality and safety of supplements. What led to the passage of this law was a historic grassroots and political battle, a struggle that actually…
We predicted late last year before, during and after the election that 2009 would begin a time of change and challenge for dietary supplements. It looks like the first shoe has dropped: The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) presented a report to Congress last week, titled Dietary Supplements: FDA Should Take Further Action to Improve Oversight and Consumer Understanding. A…
WASHINGTON—The Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus, in cooperation with the two the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and the Natural Products Association (NPA), hosted the third of a series of lunch briefings since the Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus was founded. The briefings were aimed at educating Congressional staffers on important issues related to the dietary supplement industry. William Cooper, M.D., medical…