Orange County, CA - February 13th, 2019 - In the past 25 years, the dietary supplement industry has evolved consumers choices from its initial 4,000 products to 80,000; making the industry worth $40 billion. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced plans Monday to step up its policing of dietary supplements, which it said has grown into a $40 billion industry with more than 50,000 products.
The agency warned 17 companies for illegally making claims about their products' ability to treat serious diseases which included Alzheimer's disease and cancer. The companies, which included Gold Crown Natural Products, Pure Nootropics, TEK Naturals, and Sovereign Laboratories, have 15 business days to respond to the FDA's letters.
Approximately, 75 percent of Americans regularly take dietary supplements. The supplement market might have outpaced the agency's ability to properly regulate the volume and variety of products hitting the market. The FDA is working toward more rapid response methods of issuing consumer warnings and cease the production and distribution of products marketed using fraudulent claims to prevent or cure conditions that cannot be treated with over-the-counter supplements.
"As the popularity of supplements has grown, so have the number of entities marketing potentially risky products or making unproven or misleading claims about the health benefits they may deliver," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said. According to a statement by Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the FDA declared to update its policies on dietary supplements, which promises
“one of the most significant modernizations of dietary supplement regulation and oversight in more than 25 years.”
The FDA aims to quickly alert the public to avoid buying products that may contain supplements with unlawful or potentially dangerous ingredients. The FDA said it would continue to roll out plans in the next few months and that it plans to open communication up to the contributing parties and the public.
