USP advocates for regulatory reform in dietary supplement industry

In its new position paper, “Regulatory reform is needed to ensure the quality of dietary supplements,” the USP argues that the current lack of a robust regulatory framework for dietary supplements has created an environment in which a given product can vary significantly in quality among manufacturers. Because of the growth of the industry and loopholes in outdated law that limits the FDA’s authority, the USP argues that the agency has difficulty effectively monitoring the market and protecting public health from products that are compromised by contaminants, impurities, misidentified, substituted, or illegal ingredients.

Michael Rashed, director of non-pharmaceutical programs at USP, said time and practice have revealed some gaps in the system when it comes to regulatory reform.

“The DSHEA really limits the FDA’s authority and makes it harder for them to effectively monitor the marketplace. So when we talk about policy reform, we really think it should improve things like post-market surveillance and more visibility into supplement markets. We’ll also talk about the idea of ​​mandatory product listing, additional labeling requirements, but also increased resources for the FDA because if you tighten up the rules, you really need to have the resources to actually properly enforce those rules,” Rashed explained.

On the industry side, Rashed said there are many opportunities to increase safety and quality, including third-party verification programs, mandatory product listings and additional labeling.