How do Holistic Primary Care’s practitioner-readers feel about the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA)? Over half don’t even know what it is. Among those who do recognize DSHEA as the main federal statute regulating dietary supplements, there’s considerable ambivalence about the efficacy and the intent of the law.
Research on the impact of various vitamins, minerals, fats, and other nutraceutical substances is progressing at a rapid pace, despite a regulatory system that prohibits supplement companies from using clinical data to make prevention or treatment claims. None the less, inovative companies are translating new discoveries into a new wave of science-backed supplements.
Healthcare—with its reliance on single-use disposables—is one of the world’s biggest polluters. And the natural products and dietary supplements industries—despite their “clean, green, and healthy” values—do contribute to the deluge of trash and pollution. Fortunately, eco-conscious companies in the natural products sector are responding to the crisis, and leading the charge toward ecological sustainability.
Nutraceutical companies like Klaire Labs, Lonza, and Metagenics appreciate a healthy bottom line, but they also value a healthy workforce. A company that makes a strong and sustained commitment to the health and wellbeing of its own employees is likely to be equally committed to ensuring the quality and safety of its products.
In the 18 months since it launched, the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s “Online Wellness Library” (OWL) has amassed labels and product information from 89 dietary supplement companies representing over 11,000 product labels. The library, an independent and voluntary project, is part of a broader supplement industry movement toward greater transparency and truthfulness.
All herbs, like all agricultural products, are potentially subject to contamination with microbes, pesticides, environmental toxins, and financially-motivated adulteration or mislabeling.Certain herbs, however, have been particularly vulnerable to economically-motivated adulteration.
The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) has certainly had its share of critics over the 25 years since it was signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton.Some contend the regulation is weak, and that it gives the supplement industry too much latitude, while providing too little consumer protection. On the other side, many argue that the law puts a stranglehold on truthful communication about supplements. Is the time right to revisit–and revise–this landmark law?
Many supplement and nutrition companies now make claims about their transparency and their products’ traceability. Few, however, publish complete data from their quality analysis testing for all the world to see. This year, Metagenics—one of the top three practitioner-channel brands—has taken that step, with its new TruQuality program.
Analytical testing laboratories are at the heart of all quality control endeavors in the dietary supplement industry. Few know more about it than Elan Sudberg, CEO, of Alkemist Labs, one of the nation’s leading independent analytical laboratories serving the dietary supplement and natural products industries. In this in-depth interview, Sudberg shares his views on the state of quality control for herbal medicines and the direction for future improvements.
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