Put down the resveratrol and back away from the astaxanthin.
Because unless you (and I) act quickly, loudly — and with the force of the “Occupy” movement, the FDA might declare them illegal and snatch them right off the shelves.
Oh yes, Chicken Little…the sky is really falling this time.
Rigging the rules
You see, your right to choose whatever supplements you want is protected by the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA).
But, in an end-around that would make any NFL playcaller green with envy, the FDA recently proposed revised guidelines for new dietary ingredients (NDI). That may not sound like much, but it’s huge.
Under the current guidelines, once an NDI is introduced by one company, that ingredient can be used by any company. That’s a workable system, and everyone — especially consumers — benefit.
But the new guidelines would require a separate NDI disclosure every time an ingredient is used that wasn’t on the market in 1994. And that can mean any time someone uses a different extraction method, standardization formula or form (powder vs. oil, for example).
And just to be clear, literally everything new since 1994 could be under attack.
That would include ingredients we use every single day, like resveratrol, since it was introduced after 1994. Even though resveratrol has been used safely and effectively for YEARS, any time it’s reintroduced in a new supplement, the maker will have to submit a disclosure letter to prove that resveratrol is safe.
It’s absurd! And it’s nothing less than official harassment by an agency that feels impotent against the public demand for access to supplements.
I’ll hold resveratrol up against ANY approved drug, and I have no doubt the drug will have far greater dangers than resveratrol.
And yet, supplement companies may be required to conduct expensive and time-consuming safety trials before bringing a resveratrol product to market. And if they make a change to a product that already contains resveratrol, they’ll have to start from scratch with new safety trials.
Not only will this stifle much-needed innovation in the supplement industry, it will simply put tons of supplement makers out of business.
And then what supplement companies will be left? The ones with really deep pockets. And in many if not MOST cases, that means supplement companies owned and operated by…you guessed it — drug companies.
And now you see why this new “guidance” is just one more attempt by the FDA to genuflect to its Big Pharma buddies.
Every time Congress has threatened our supplements, we have stood strong — and loud and said “Hands Off!” And every time, they have backed down. But the FDA is trying to do this without going through Congress, so we need to be stronger, louder and angrier.
Take a few minutes now. Stop whatever you’re doing and tell FDA officials to keep their “guidance” away from our supplements.
There are three things we all need to do right now…
1) Most importantly, use this link to post a comment on the FDA website. The deadline for comments is coming up quickly: 12/2/11.
2) Send a message by e-mail, letter or phone to your Congressional representatives. Even though this is not a congressional matter, it’s important to let them know where we stand, and we expect them to support the law. (For names and addresses of your representatives, go to opencongress.org)
3) Rally the troops! Tell your friends, family, neighbors, dog trainer…everyone you know to demand that the FDA leave our access to the supplements we have been safely taking for a decade and a half alone.
For more information about this proposed FDA action, you can visit the website for the Alliance for National Health (anh-usa.org).
DSHEA states: “The Federal Government should not take any actions to impose unreasonable regulatory barriers limiting or slowing the flow of safe products and accurate information to consumers.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself! We’ve got to let the FDA know that we will not tolerate regulators who don’t follow the rule of law.
Jenny Thompson is the Director of the Health Sciences Institute and editor of the HSI e-Alert. Through HSI, she and her team uncover important health information and expose ridiculous health misinformation, most notably through the HSI e-Alert.
Visit www.hsionline.com to sign up for the free HSI e-Alert.
Latest posts by Jenny Thompson (see all)
- Warning: Scam artists trying to con you out of cash! - October 12, 2016
- Daily 10 minute ritual slashes risk of 5 deadly conditions - October 10, 2016
- Is it safe to eat? Figuring out food expiration dates - October 2, 2016
