February 11, 2009 5:29 PM
- Text
How Should FDA Regulate Diet Supplements?
(CBS)
Supplement companies promising "skinny" are now being slapped with fat fines for false advertising, CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reports. So how did they get away with it in the fisrt place?
In 1993, the FDA was on the verge of enforcing a "truth in labeling regulation" for dietary supplements. The industry struck back with commercials that urged consumers to write to their congressmen or else they might have to kiss their Vitamin C goodbye.
"More people wrote to Congress about the supplement bill than wrote about the Vietnam War," says science and medical writer Dan Hurley.
Hurley says Congress caved and passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 instead.
Does it protect the consumer? "I would say it protects the manufacturers. It frees them of any requirement to prove that their product is safe or effective before it's sold," Hurley says.
Hurley — who investigated the supplement industry for his book "Natural Causes" — says the supplement industry then convinced lawmakers to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on studies, looking at everything from treating colds with echinacea to treating cancer with mistletoe and shark cartilage.
"We learned that most of of the products tested have not worked," Hurley says.
But not everyone agrees. David Seckman, the head of the Natural Products Association, says supplements have been proven to work and are safe. But if they're safe, what's the problem with regulating them?
"They are regulated," Seckman says. "That's just it; as a food, not a drug."
The difference? Drugs have to be approved by the FDA before they hit the market. Supplements don't. So when it comes to protecting people before there's a problem, the FDA has its hands tied.
In 1993, the FDA was on the verge of enforcing a "truth in labeling regulation" for dietary supplements. The industry struck back with commercials that urged consumers to write to their congressmen or else they might have to kiss their Vitamin C goodbye.
"More people wrote to Congress about the supplement bill than wrote about the Vietnam War," says science and medical writer Dan Hurley.
Hurley says Congress caved and passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 instead.
Does it protect the consumer? "I would say it protects the manufacturers. It frees them of any requirement to prove that their product is safe or effective before it's sold," Hurley says.
Hurley — who investigated the supplement industry for his book "Natural Causes" — says the supplement industry then convinced lawmakers to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on studies, looking at everything from treating colds with echinacea to treating cancer with mistletoe and shark cartilage.
"We learned that most of of the products tested have not worked," Hurley says.
But not everyone agrees. David Seckman, the head of the Natural Products Association, says supplements have been proven to work and are safe. But if they're safe, what's the problem with regulating them?
"They are regulated," Seckman says. "That's just it; as a food, not a drug."
The difference? Drugs have to be approved by the FDA before they hit the market. Supplements don't. So when it comes to protecting people before there's a problem, the FDA has its hands tied.
Latest Now in CBS Evening News
- Evening News Online, 02.09.12
- One mortgage mess culprit: Signature mills
- Remembering Kodak cameras
- Obama frees 10 states from "No Child Left Behind"
- Assad continues relentless attack on Homs
- Inside the job of a robo-signer
- Big banks, gov't officials strike $25B deal
- Civilians bear the brunt of Syrian assault
- Oral history of N. Ireland strife raises dilemma
- Repairman reminisces as Kodak retires its cameras
- Evening News Online, 02.08.12
- Female soldiers tell stories from the frontlines
- Behind winter's wild weather
- Gas prices continue to creep up
- GOP turns up heat on Obama contraceptive law
- Do Santorum wins signal fundamental change in GOP?
- Are Santorum wins good for GOP's future?
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- India, EU hope to reach free trade pact this year
- Poll shows Poland's ruling party losing support
- Foreclosure pact: Enough help for homeowners?
- Greece on strike as bailout deal in limbo
on Facebook
- Tenn. father charged with murdering couple who"unfriended" daughter on Facebook
- "Person to Person" with George Clooney
- Adele opens up about vocal cord surgery
on CBS News






