Dietary supplement

Like supplements or vitamins.

Supplement-wise,

yes.

Green tea extract.

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Thank you for joining Dr. Liz Cruz and Tina Nunziato.

So let's first dive into how we got here.

Why is there this mistrust of dietary supplements? And don't get me wrong, some of it is well-founded.

I've talked many times about how the supplement industry is like the Wild West.

So one of the problems is, according to the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, the US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, cannot evaluate the safety of products before they're sold in the marketplace.

This is because dietary supplements are considered foods and automatically assumed safe for consumption, or another term you might see, generally recognized as safe.

Now this is as long as it's being used as intended.

Now no federal or state agency routinely tests the quality of supplements before they're sold.

Another is the National Sanitation Foundation or NSF International.

And particularly, we're going to not be so kind to what are probably the two most popular multivitamins in this country and quite possibly the world.

And I'm going to explain exactly why, not by the front of the bottle, but by the supplement facts panel.

And we're going to get into why these are such bad products that not only are they a waste of your money, but they are harming your health, not improving it.

So we're going to get into that.

Costco's very, very secretive about who makes their private label.

And I'm, and for good reason, I don't blame them from a business standpoint, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's also a drug company probably is.

Let's talk about the marketing and really kind of what the supplement facts look like to the untrained eye.

I guess that's maybe the best way to put it.

So let's jump right in, starting with those top headlines.

Our top story this week comes from our newest reporter, Charlie Christopherson, who heard some interesting comments from Mark Hartman, the director of the FDA's Office of Food, Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation.

And the director was at the annual food packaging law seminar from the law firm of Keller and Heckman.

Well, as Charlie reports, Director Hartman said he expects the FDA's finalized update to the GRAS rule will look different from what the agency proposed over the summer.

Learn more at meta.com slash buildingohio.

The dietary supplement industry has proven to be sort of a Wild West nowadays.

While its global market value is projected to grow to more than $300 billion by 2028, it's left a lot of unhappy consumers in the rise to the top.

To increase sales, some businesses make outrageous claims about their products that the FDA is often having to police.

A lot of the claims that we might see on a product label or labeling, we have to review that in-house to determine whether the claim is, again, intended to be for the treatment, prevention, or cure of a disease or health-related condition.

And then we would ideally contact them and let them know that they are making inappropriate claims.

But there are a lot of claims that are appropriate for dietary supplements to make.

Welch is the director of the FDA's Office of Dietary Supplement Programs in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Should I take mineral supplements? Dietary adequacy through whole foods is the preferred approach for most people.

Supplementation should be guided by clinical assessment of dietary intake and mineral status, not self-directed.

excess supplementation of some minerals iron zinc copper can impair absorption of others or cause toxicity consult your clinician before beginning mineral supplements which populations are at highest risk for mineral deficiency older adults reduced absorption and intake individuals with gastrointestinal disease those on chronic diuretics or proton pump inhibitors people with severe malnutrition or restrictive diets, pregnant and nursing women, and populations in iodine-deficient regions.

Screening is recommended in these groups.

That's why this new one is being introduced.

And there are advocacy groups, the Dietary Supplement and Natural Product Coalitions.

These are trade representatives advocating for streamlined FDA regulated pathways to convert traditional plant medicines into clinical grade pharmaceuticals.

And again, Representative Lauren Boebert's move from Colorado's third congressional district to the eastern, far more conservative fourth district put her in a significantly stronger electoral environment.