FDA Eases Rules on Supplement Claims

The Food and Drug Administration eased some restrictions on dietary supplements, saying the products can legally claim to treat a variety of symptoms--from morning sickness to memory loss--that are considered common passages of life. At issue is the $6 billion worth of dietary supplements that Americans buy each year--pills, capsules and teas that do not undergo any government scrutiny for safety or effectiveness. Federal law allows the products to make truthful claims that they maintain the healthful “structure or function” of the body--but they may not claim to treat diseases. Actual treatments must undergo rigorous scientific study not required for supplements. The FDA proposed in 1998 that supplements cannot even imply that they diagnose, treat, prevent or cure a disease or definitive symptom. But the agency received thousands of letters of complaint from the supplements industry and consumers. So the agency has relented somewhat: Supplements will be allowed to claim to help “common conditions” associated with “passages of life” such as pregnancy, menopause, adolescence and aging--but specific diseases and serious symptoms are still off-limits. The Council for Responsible Nutrition, which represents supplement makers, did not immediately comment.