That Health Rules

Finally!!!…The US FDA has made some firm stand on dietary supplements.  In the medical community it has been a puzzle as to why the health governing agency has always been hands off with regard regulating these dietary supplements!.  And how come nobody monitors the safety and the standards of this multibillion dollar industry.

The same goes with our local FDA and BFAD where supplements boast as being BFAD approved as if this is a tag to prove that the products are safe to be used by consumers.  You hear this on radio and you see these claims on print…Herbal Supplement is BFAD Approved!

So consumers beware because even if your supplements came from the US, the regulation of the sale of these products has not been standardized till now.  Toxic levels of certain substances present in your pill are not monitored nor are labels required… which at least for now is being changed!

Here’s more from the US FDA Fact Sheet:

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“The regulations establish the cGMP needed to ensure quality throughout the manufacturing, packaging, labeling, and storing of dietary supplements. The final rule includes requirements for establishing quality control procedures, designing and constructing manufacturing plants, and testing ingredients and the finished product. It also includes requirements for recordkeeping and handling consumer product complaints.“The final rule will help ensure that dietary supplements are manufactured with controls that result in a consistent product free of contamination, with accurate labeling,” said Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D., director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Under the final rule, manufacturers are required to evaluate the identity, purity, strength, and composition of their dietary supplements. If dietary supplements contain contaminants or do not contain the dietary ingredient they are represented to contain, FDA would consider those products to be adulterated or misbranded. The aim of the final rule is to prevent inclusion of the wrong ingredients, too much or too little of a dietary ingredient, contamination by substances such as natural toxins, bacteria, pesticides, glass, lead and other heavy metals, as well as improper packaging and labeling.The final rule includes flexible requirements that can evolve with improvements in scientific methods used for verifying identity, purity strength, and composition of dietary supplements.”

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We Need Stricter Rules On Dietary Supplements!

This entry was posted on June 26, 2007 at 1:16 pm and is filed under General Health Tips, Medical News Bits, Personal Thoughts.