"Common questions and misconceptions about dietary supplements and the industry - What does science and the law really say?"

Abstract

Dietary supplement use is popular among fitness enthusiasts as well as competitive athletes. There is, however, confusion regarding the regulatory framework as well as the basic science regarding the use of supplements. Although there is an extensive body of scientific and legal writings on dietary supplements, several misconceptions persist vis-à-vis this category. Thus, the following questions will be addressed in this review. 1) Are dietary supplements regulated by the Food and Drug Administration? 2) Are foods and supplements regulated similarly? 3) What is the role of the Federal Trade Commission? 4) Besides federal regulations for dietary supplements, do state laws also regulate the category? 5) If a supplement company funds a study, does that automatically call into question the results? 6) Can diet alone provide everything you need without using supplements? 7) Is it necessary to conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on dietary supplements? 8) How safe are supplements compared to OTC drugs? 9) Where can consumers find accurate information about supplements? 10) Why does the NIH fund dietary supplement research related to disease, yet findings cannot be marketed by supplement companies? 11) What is the size of the dietary supplement industry compared to the pharmaceutical industry? 12) How can I know if a dietary supplement is safe and free of banned substances? Similar to our prior papers, a team of legal and science scholars evaluated the evidence on these salient questions.

Keywords: FDA; Social media; nutrition; regulation; safety.