Hot on the heels of the Food and Drug Administration's efforts to ensure truthful label claims for dietary supplements, the Institute of Medicine has expressed its concern about both the safety and efficacy of the products.
Saying "There is little product reliability," the institute called for tougher regulations of dietary supplement products on January 12. At a briefing that day, Dr. Stuart Bondurant, chairman of the committee that prepared the institute's report, said: "Reliable and standardized products are needed."
Dietary supplements, the report points out, need not be proven safe before they can be sold; sale can only be prohibited if the FDA can prove they are harmful. Also, unlike regulated drugs, companies are not required to report adverse reactions.
The report also says that the Federal Trade Commission has reported a flurry of unfounded or exaggerated claims for supplement products. It calls on Congress and federal agencies to set standards for manufacturing quality. The Institute of Medicine is a part of the National Academy of Science, an organization chartered by Congress for scientific advice.
--By Arnie Orloski, Executive Editor, Packaging World
