Most healthy individuals can get all of the essential vitamins and minerals through diet alone; if taking supplements, make sure it’s safe by purchasing only from companies adhering to Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) guidelines and labeling regulations.
Dietary supplements are manufactured products designed to supplement a person’s diet by providing essential vitamins and nutrients derived from either natural sources such as foodstuffs or through synthetic means.
Third-Party Tested
Third-party testing refers to sending supplements directly to independent labs that are unaffiliated with either their manufacture or seller, in order to obtain an objective evaluation of safety, purity and potency as well as verify label claims so that what’s advertised matches what’s actually inside each bottle.
This is important, because many supplements have inaccurate labels; for instance, a protein powder might claim it contains 15 grams but third-party testing reveals only 12 grams.
Companies who invest in third-party testing are able to put third-party certification marks on their product labels. NSF International provides a Dietary Supplement Certification program which verifies cGMP compliance; companies who volunteer their products into this program can display the NSF International cGMP mark on their labels, while they conduct inspections and assessments at manufacturing facilities to ensure full cGMP compliance.
No Claims to Treat Diseases or Cure Illnesses
Vitamins, minerals, herbs and other dietary supplements do not offer the same safety, efficacy or effectiveness as prescription medicines; some can cause side effects while others could interact with existing prescriptions.
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) permits manufacturers of dietary supplements to make various claims about their product, provided these do not violate “structure/function”, “disease/health condition”, or a “diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevention claim”. Companies must include on their product labels a disclaimer stating the supplement does not claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Consumers should report any health problems they think might be linked to dietary supplements using FDA’s Safety Reporting Portal. FDA reviews these reports and collaborates with federal agencies, state regulators and industry to identify violations and take necessary enforcement actions when necessary. Unfortunately, most supplements such as vitamins, minerals and herbal remedies aren’t eligible for reimbursement by HSAs, FSAs or Archer MSAs.
No Claims to Interfere with Prescription Drugs
Though some supplements may interact with certain prescription drugs, most do not. To reduce any potential interactions, be sure to inform both your physician and pharmacist of all supplements you are taking, as well as read labels to select products with seals from trusted independent testing organizations like U.S. Pharmacopeia, ConsumerLab or NSF International; such organizations require manufacturers to adhere to good manufacturing practices while testing for safety.
This analysis draws upon data from the Tainted Supplements Database and is not meant as an indicator of how prevalent adulterated dietary supplements are in retail locations. Furthermore, since FDA inspection and sampling efforts for dietary supplements is an ongoing effort, changes in adulterated supplement reports could reflect shifting priorities for inspections, testing and reporting efforts by FDA inspectors; warnings that name the same product released six or more months apart were assumed related to individual investigations from FDA, with only the most severe warning type used per entry in this analysis.
No Claims to Promote Health
Legal claims on supplement labels may include three types: structure/function claims, disease claims and nutrient content claims. According to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), structure/function claims describe how a product maintains or supports normal structure or function in the body or overall well-being, while Nutrient Content Claims refer to how much of a certain nutrient exists per serving as defined terms such as “high” or “good source”, or as percentage of Daily Value per daily dose.
Before taking supplements, be sure to speak to an internal medicine physician in Cary so as to ensure they won’t interact with any prescription drugs you are currently taking. Third-party testing and the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) verified mark should also be sought out before beginning supplement use. Furthermore, numerous online resources offer scientific information regarding dietary supplements – National Institutes of Health and Medline Plus can both offer useful resources.
