Most American adults regularly take at least one supplement, such as vitamins, herbs, fish oils, hormones, and amino acids. Under current law, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees these products but does not review or test their safety before they are sold. The agency also has limited insight into the market—which is estimated to include as many as 80,000 products—because manufacturers are not required to tell the agency about the supplements they make or their ingredients.
Pew worked on legislation and regulations that would enhance FDA’s ability to protect consumers from unsafe supplements, such as those containing prescription drugs or other dangerous or illegal ingredients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates these products under the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, but the agency cannot effectively nor efficiently protect public health because of significant gaps in this outdated law.
A new survey finds that most American adults believe the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should do more to ensure the safety of supplements, whose ingredients range from vitamins and plant extracts to probiotics, hormones, and amino acids.
At a time when most Americans say they have taken dietary supplements, the Food and Drug Administration just does not have the tools to effectively ensure that these products are safe. In a recent survey, a majority of adults echoed this concern: 7 in 10 said they think the agency cannot protect consumers from harmful supplements.
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