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The Dietary Supplement Labeling Act has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). The bill targets nutritional supplements and supplement manufacturers in an effort to pass unnecessary new regulations and give the FDA vast new powers.
This bill requires that the FDA, together with the Institute of Medicine, compile a list of dietary ingredients (supplements) that could lead to adverse events or are otherwise deemed risky in some way. But creating lists of “bad” ingredients or “bad” doses based on completely arbitrary or non-existent standards is a slippery slope. Please do not be misled. This is not a minor change to DSHEA. It will give the FDA major new powers to curtail supplement sales. It will lead inexorably to pre-approval for supplements—and that will cost so much that most supplements will disappear.
Moreover, almost all of the bill’s other provisions are already covered by existing law. There is no need for any new legislation, especially with the vague language in this bill; the only need is for existing laws to be fully enforced.
This bill requires that the FDA, together with the Institute of Medicine, compile a list of dietary ingredients (supplements) that could lead to adverse events or are otherwise deemed risky in some way. But creating lists of “bad” ingredients or “bad” doses based on completely arbitrary or non-existent standards is a slippery slope. Please do not be misled. This is not a minor change to DSHEA. It will give the FDA major new powers to curtail supplement sales. It will lead inexorably to pre-approval for supplements—and that will cost so much that most supplements will disappear.
Moreover, almost all of the bill’s other provisions are already covered by existing law. There is no need for any new legislation, especially with the vague language in this bill; the only need is for existing laws to be fully enforced.
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