The Regulation Of Dietary Supplements

Run faster. Lose weight. Improve your mood. Relieve joint pain. Get energized. Such promises are commonly found on dietary supplement labels. If you are considering a supplement purchase, become an informed consumer first. Make sure the label contains the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) verified mark. Supplements without this seal may not have undergone sufficient quality testing prior to marketing.

Definition

You may be wondering just what products are considered dietary supplements. According to the US Food and Drug Administration definition, a supplement is a "product (other than tobacco) intended to supplement the diet that bears or contains ... a vitamin, a mineral, an herb or other botanical, an amino acid, a dietary substance, a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of any ingredient described."

Background

Due to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, supplements are not subject to the same FDA approval process that food additives and prescription drugs undergo. Food additives and prescription drugs must be proven safe prior to marketing; dietary supplements are sold without prior studies proving their safety. Quality assurance is left up to individual manufacturers. Only after a supplement is found to be harmful is it taken off the market.

Implications

The FDA requires that supplement labels disclose all of the ingredients used in product manufacture. Labels include the product name, identification as a supplement and manufacturer contact information. Remember that this is not your guarantee of product quality. According to Consumerlab.com, an independent dietary supplement testing organization, numerous instances of misleading and inaccurate labeling information on dietary supplements exist.

U.S.Pharmacopeia (USP) Verified Mark

Before you purchase any dietary supplement, be sure and examine the label carefully for the USP mark. This mark is your best assurance that the supplement has undergone voluntary testing for all of the ingredients listed on the label. The manufacturers of supplements that bare this mark attest to the facts that their product is contaminant-free, that good manufacturing processes were used and that the supplement disperses all active ingredients properly once ingested. The USP is a non-profit organization that operates independently of government regulatory agencies such as the FDA.