Food Supplements: Be an Informed Consumer. 1
Thirty years ago most people didn’t take vitamins, or what we now call -’Food Supplements.’ During this time, those that did take food supplements were considered somewhat ‘off’ or belonging to the longhaired, tie-dye wearing, V.W. van-driving persuasion.
In addition, medical science told us that taking vitamins or food supplements was of no nutritional value other than to provide us with expensive urine. Well, times have changed.
Modern medical science now acknowledges the potential benefits in addition to the dangers of taking food supplements. Taking food supplements is now considered common and is recommended by many physicians. In fact, approximately 40% of those over 2 years of age take some sort of dietary supplement (1). Based on these facts, it should not shock anyone to learn that the food supplement business is a billion-dollar industry.
THE FDA’s Influence
On the other hand, we have the dreaded Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Currently, the FDA does not regulate the food supplement industry other than ensuring that the product label accurately reflects the product composition. The FDA also monitors health claims in relation to product labeling. At this time, the FDA has graciously given its blessing for manufacturers to use the following health claims: Calcium and Osteoporosis; Sodium and Hypertension; dietary fat and cancer; dietary saturated fat/cholesterol and coronary heart disease; fiber containing fruits, grains, vegetables and cancer; fiber-containing fruit, grains, and vegetables and heart disease; folate (a “B” Vitamin) and neural tube birth defects; and dietary sugar alcohol and dental caries (cavities).
In addition, the FDA requires that supplement manufacturers ensure the safety of their products, but does not require them to register or receive FDA approval before producing or selling dietary supplements.
With consumers left to determine if a food supplement is safe and effective, many may and have said that the FDA should regulate food supplements the same way they regulate drugs. However, people with this opinion clearly have a false sense of security in regards to the FDA. If the FDA regulation of drugs is any indication of the FDA’s capabilities to ensure safety, placing natural food supplements under the FDA would serve no useful purpose.
Case in point: in September of 1997, the FDA took the diet drugs fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine off the market due to reports of heart valve damage in 31% of those who took the drugs in combination with another diet pill, phentermine. Fenfluramine was also shown to damage heart valves when taken alone. By the time the FDA acted and banned fenfluramine, this drug had been on the market for over 24 years (2). Now combine that bit of news with the fact that an estimated 51% of FDA approved drugs have serious side effects that are not detected prior to approval (3) and you have one scary mess. So, the idea of placing food supplements under the FDA for “safety reasons” doesn’t quite fly, does it?
Now that I have thoroughly scared you about prescription drugs, let me reassure you as to the safety of natural food supplements. To illustrate this point, let’s contrast the safety of FDA regulated prescription drugs with that of food supplements.