Health and nutrition supplements may be helpful in meeting your nutrient requirements, but they should never replace a balanced diet consisting of nutritious food sources. Always read labels closely, and be wary of products with unrealistic claims that may tempt you.
Staying organized by keeping track of all of your supplements will allow you to gauge whether you are getting too many or experiencing adverse side effects.
They are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Health supplements are not subject to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), since they’re considered food instead of drugs. This allows products without evidence of their effectiveness or safety to be sold freely on store shelves, and while some aspects of dietary supplement production and labeling may be subject to regulation by the FDA, its power to prevent adverse side effects is limited.
According to the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, manufacturers can legally market dietary supplements with established ingredients without needing to show evidence that they work. They must follow good manufacturing practices to reduce risk of contamination while adding the correct amounts of each ingredient into each bottle or tablet.
While it is illegal for supplement companies to promote their products as cures or treatments for diseases, retailers have been pushing the legal boundaries by training staff associates to recommend supplements directly to customers, even though this goes against DSHEA regulations.
They are not regulated by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA)
HSA is a multidisciplinary agency combining medical, pharmaceutical and scientific expertise to protect and advance national health and safety. HSA manages blood transfusion service as well as critical forensic and analytical laboratory services. HSA works closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure all food, drug and cosmetic products comply with high standards.
HSA does not evaluate or approve health supplements prior to being sold in Singapore; however, the agency has established a post market surveillance system and imposed stringent limits on toxic heavy metal content in these products, prohibiting their addition of medicinal ingredients such as steroids. All importers, manufacturers and dealers who import or sell health supplements into Singapore must abide by these guidelines when doing business there.
To promote the safety of health supplements, the government has revised its guidelines to clarify do’s and don’ts and increase regulatory scrutiny. These new rules include a classification flowchart for vitamins and minerals-containing supplements as well as guidance on labeling procedures.
They are not regulated by the Food Safety Authority (FSA)
As a result, supplements may be ineffective or contain microbes or heavy metals that interact with prescription drugs in harmful ways, as well as being contaminated with illegal drugs or ingredients that could lead to side effects in some consumers. Bekker, Flores and Sinha in their article advocate for stronger postmarket enforcement by FDA; specifically that this means bypassing voluntary recall procedures and compelling manufacturers to prove they are safe before returning them back onto the market.
Dietary supplements are classified as food and are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pursuant to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. Dietary supplements may include vitamins, minerals, herbs or botanicals, amino acids, concentrates, metabolites constituents or extracts as well as structure/function claims which do not imply treating or preventing disease but rather maintain or regulate normal healthy structures and functions such as lung function.
They are not regulated by the European Commission
Food supplements contain concentrated sources of nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals. People take them to correct nutritional deficiencies or support certain physiological functions. The EU regulates these supplements through rules for labelling, presentation and advertising; companies wishing to market a supplement containing substances not on its list of permitted substances must request evaluation by EFSA prior to selling such product(s).
This research explores how fragmented legal systems translates to national regulatory practices for food supplements containing botanical and bioactive substances. This study applies a hybrid approach combining doctrinal and empirical legal analysis to explore these issues through expert interviews conducted by the authors. Their analysis demonstrates that EU law intended to harmonize regulation of supplements has failed. This result demonstrates the urgent need to accelerate European harmonisation. Until this occurs, both the UK government and devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland recommend that scientific dossiers supporting the addition of substances to Schedules be completed by DHSC.
