Dietary supplements and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Does the U.S. Food and Drug Association also oversee dietary supplements?
Yes. But dietery supplements are not regulated and approved in the same way that drugs from
pharmaceutical companies are regulated.
The label of a dietary supplement or food product may contain one of three types of claims:
a health claim
, nutrient content claim, or
structure/function claim.
The FDA will regulate label claims and ingredients. But whereas FDA-approved drugs can claim
success in
diagnosing, treatment or prevention of a disease or
condition, these types of claims may not be made legally for
nutritional supplements.
- Health claims describe a
relationship between a food, food component, or dietary
supplement ingredient, and
reducing risk of a disease or health-related condition.
- Nutrient content claims describe the relative
amount of a nutrient or dietary substance in a product.
- A structure/function claim is a statement describing how a product
may affect the organs or systems of the
body and it cannot mention any specific disease.
" this statement has not been evaluated by the FDA....it is not intented to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease ."