Herbal Dietary Supplements
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Regulations, Media Conference, Longjiang Rivers of Health Products, New York, NY, (January 21, 2004). A Close Look at FDAs Regulations of the Production and Market Placement of Dietary Supplements and Functional Foods, Inside Counsels Forum on Manufacturing, Marketing, and Distribution of Dietary Supplements, Nutraceuticals, and Functional Foods, San Francisco, Calif., May 15-17, 2007 ). J. Fleder and Cassandra Soltis, Dietary Supplements and Weight-Loss Advertisements Fat Targets for Federal Trade Commission Action, Food & Drug Law, Regulation, & Education Update (July/August). Regulatory Requirements for Health-Related Claims in the Labeling of Functional Foods,” American Oil Chemists Society 90th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Orlando, FL (May 9-12, 1999).
Organizations within and without the U.S. government that regulate, monitor, and/or scientifically analyze the impact of dietary supplements in the U.S. The FDAs Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) has the lead regulatory responsibilities over legal domestic marketing of dietary and botanical supplements . The FDA regulates the safety, manufacture, and labeling of dietary supplements, and our partners at the Federal Trade Commission have primary regulatory responsibilities over advertising of these products. Under existing U.S. law, all supplements sold in the United States, including botanical supplements, are regulated under a specific category of foods by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, manufacturers are not required to submit proof of product safety to FDA prior to marketing of dietary supplements, except when supplements contain a novel dietary ingredient (a dietary ingredient not sold in this country before Oct. 15, 1994) that has not been preserved in the food supply as a food-use article in a form where food has not been chemically altered.
Further, there is no requirement for manufacturers to provide evidence of product safety to Food and Drug Administration prior to marketing a dietary supplement, unless the supplement contains a new dietary ingredient (a dietary ingredient that was not marketed in this country before October 15, 1994) that has not been present in the food supply as an article used for food in a form in which the food has not been chemically altered. In addition, in contrast to the framework used for medications, compliance with a U.S. Pharmacopeia-National Formulary (USP-NF) is voluntary for all food additives. Dietary supplements that fail to conform to specifications required under the CGMP regulations are considered violative; however, the FDA generally may make this determination only after a product is placed on the market, and products in the market are not regularly tested by the FDA to determine if product specifications are being met. Dietary supplements spiked with adulterants of drugs or controlled substances cannot legally be sold, since all drugs-containing products must have been approved by FDA prior to marketing and are subject to the appropriate controls regarding consumer access. Subsequently, although developers of pharmaceutical drugs are required to submit to FDA regulations and conduct clinical trials to establish drug efficacy, dietary and herbal supplements are exempted from such requirements.
This hostility, and lack of clear regulatory framework for supplements, was evident before the passage of the bill. Now, this is further complicated by the fact that the Food and Drug Administration has many sitting bureaucrats that detest food additives and who would like to see a premarket approval, thereby driving down the costs of vitamins, minerals, even herbal products.
The U.S. dietary supplement industry has grown from approximately 4,000 products in 1994 to 50,0000 to 80,000 products as of FY2021,1 and approximately 80 percent of U.S. adults reported taking dietary supplements, according to a Consumer Survey conducted in 2021. These increases in the number of products and consumer use highlight the importance of physicians understanding the potential for quality concerns with products presented as dietary supplements, given that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have the same level of scrutiny. The dietary supplement industry in the United States has grown from approximately 4000 products in 1994 to between 50 000 and 80 000 products in fiscal year 2021,1 with about 80 % of US adults reporting that they take dietary supplements, according to a 2021 consumer survey. These increases in the number of products and in consumer usage underscore the importance of clinicians understanding potential quality concerns about products represented as dietary supplements, given that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate supplements as rigorously as drugs. To underscore concerns regarding such adverse effects, a current multicenter, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored drug-induced liver injury networks . CFSAN has also issued consumer alerts regarding unsafe products, such as an alert that FDA issued regarding dietary supplements that contained Kava, a botanical ingredient; it continues to engage the supplement industry regarding practices permitted by the Act.
In Australia, most food supplements are regulated within the category of complementary medicines, which includes vitamins, minerals, herbs, aromatherapy, and homeopathic products, although some products can be considered foods of specialty use and regulated by food authorities. The terms dietary supplements or dietary supplements, or alternatively the term complementary foods, are generally used when discussing infant nutrition. The use of multivitamin supplements in older American nutrition programs is of concern due to the potential for them in nutritional programs to be used as substitutes for a diet following the American dietary guidelines.
Holly Bain served most recently as marketing director at a California-based producer of nutritional and herbal supplements. BIO Cassandra Soltis brings a wealth of experience from both internal practice and the law practice at Bayne and Associates, providing guidance in regulatory matters related to foods, dietary supplements, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics, including product development, marketing claims, and FDA/FTC compliance. In her current role, Jeremy Barto leverages her expertise on scientific and clinical benefits of nutraceutical ingredients to develop novel, innovative, end-product solutions for the dietary supplement industry, with special emphasis on probiotics, sports nutrition, and products tailored for medical conditions. In Jeremy Bartos current role, he utilizes his knowledge of the scientific and clinical benefits of nutraceutical ingredients to create new, innovative finished product solutions for the dietary supplements industry, specializing in probiotic, sports nutrition, and health condition-specific products. Stephen Denali has been responsible for the development of shared botanical standards in governmental and educational standards-setting organizations including American Botanical Council, American Pharmacopeia Herbal, AOAC International, where he was named as a 2018 fellow, the International Council of Aloe Sciences, Government of Canada, US National Institutes of Health, NSF/ANSI, and US Pharmacopeial Congress.