Word: supplemental
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...wasn't, to put it mildly, a stellar day for the booming supplement industry, whose U.S. sales have ballooned to more than $14 billion a year. ConsumerLab, a small, independent laboratory in White Plains, N.Y., is trying to position itself as the Consumer Reports of the supplement industry. According to the report, some of the country's favorite natural health additives may be downright unhealthy...
...gingko biloba and several arthritis formulas. Nearly a quarter of the gingko brands tested did not contain the advertised levels of the active ingredient GBE, which is believed by some to increase blood flow to the brain and improve cognitive functions. In the case of glucosamine-chondroitin, a combination supplement used increasingly to treat arthritis, nearly half the brands tested had lower than claimed chondroitin levels...
...could manufacturers get away with this?" my producer wanted to know. Easily. Thanks to the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act of 1994, the Food and Drug Administration no longer regulates the supplement industry the way it watches over prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Supplements don't get the same premarket safety and efficacy evaluations that drugs get, nor does the FDA set standards to ensure that labels accurately reflect contents...
Some in the supplement industry are already taking potshots at ConsumerLab.com which publishes its test methods but does not submit its results to peer review, as reputable scientific journals require. But until there is a better system of standards and quality control--the FDA is currently working on such a proposal--the reports of small testing outfits like this one are better than nothing...
...meantime, consumers can look for the seal of the National Nutritional Foods Association, the largest dietary-supplement trade group in the U.S. Members are required to submit to random inspection by a third party, which rates them on basic quality-control measures and cleanliness. Only those receiving an A rating are allowed to apply for certification and use of the N.N.F.A. good-manufacturing-practices seal...