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  • Letter to the Editor
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The new law: public law 109-462 for dietary supplements

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 63, page 300 (2009)Cite this article

Dietary supplements are just that, supplements to a healthful diet and regular exercise. Because dietary supplement is such a new discipline in the Western healthcare system, very few guidelines and standards of care can be considered well-established. The interactions of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the dietary supplement industry are a saga. On 7 October 1994, after several years of intense grass roots pressure, lobbying, and negotiation, the US Congress passed S.784, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994. The DSHEA essentially removed so-called ‘dietary supplements’ from the US FDA control. Some companies are marketing herbal medications in the United States as the dietary supplements. Even some dietary supplement manufacturers produce a ‘mimic drug’ rather than a ‘dietary supplement’. Other dietary supplement products have also caused serious effects; little FDA is able to do, except wait for the next incident to occur before it can act. DSHEA is a liberal law designed to promote dietary supplements manufacturers freedom in marketing.

We must deal with the fact that the dietary supplements industry is not always adequately regulated. Many people assume that herbal supplements must be safe because they are ‘natural’ substances. But that is not necessarily true, say physicians, who point out that some herbal preparations can be dangerous if taken in large doses or over a long period of time. Comfrey, for example, which is sold as a digestive aid, may seriously damage the liver. Large doses of licorice, used to suppress coughs, can raise blood pressure and alter the heartbeat (Calabrese and Dorsey, 1984). For herbal products, small amount ingested may show no adverse symptoms for years, until serious irreversible effects occur, for example, renal failure (Davis, 2006).

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  1. Advanced Biotechnology Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    T Jiang

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  1. T Jiang
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Correspondence to T Jiang.

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Jiang, T. The new law: public law 109-462 for dietary supplements. Eur J Clin Nutr 63, 300 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602908

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602908

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