Dietary Supplements

Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), a dietary supplement is defined as a product intended to supplement the diet and contains any of a number of ingredients such as: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals or amino acids. Dietary supplements are meant to be taken orally and are come in pill, capsule, tablet, powder or liquid form. They are most often used to fuel metabolism, immunity, growth, organ function, weight management and energy levels.

Dietary supplements are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). Except in the case of a new dietary ingredient, dietary supplements do not need approval by the FDA before being marketed. Under DSHEA, manufacturers must assure that the dietary supplements it manufactures or distributes are safe and that any claims made about them are demonstrated by sufficient data to show that they are not false or misleading.

DSHEA influences the manufacture of dietary supplements by setting forth a number of rules and guidelines. These include: the establishment of a new plan for assuring safety, nutrition and ingredient labeling specifications, outlining directives for marketing literature, regulation for the use of claims and nutritional support statements, and grant to the FDA the authority to establish good manufacturing practice (GMP) regulations.