FDA Ordering Safety of Vitamins, Supplements
Updated June 2007- The Food and Drug Administration issued guidelines for manufacturers of herbal supplements, vitamins, and other nutritional aids. From now on, products will need to undergo additional testing in order to ensure that they are not contaminated and that they do not contain any additional impurities.
The FDA has found many instances in the past in which the herbal supplements contained adulterated ingredients claimed under “active ingredients,” and that inactive ingredients claimed were not present at all.
If the supplements are mislabeled or misbranded in the future, the government agency now has the ability to ask a manufacturer to revise a label to reflect the correct ingredients. The FDA also has the ability to seize a product or seek criminal charges if the case demanded.
The problem with the ruling, says Sidney Wolfe, Public Citizen’s director of health research, lies in accountability. There still is no accountability for whether these supplements can do actually what they promise they do.