The headline got my attention, “Vitamin makers to get more scrutiny.” Sounds like a good idea. The deck also seemed reasonable, “The FDA wants dietary supplements to match what’s on the labels.” Well, shouldn’t they match? Of course, they should.
But the Los Angeles Times story raises troubling issues. The lead: Starting this summer, the makers of vitamins and dietary supplements will have to do something they’ve never done before: verify that what they sell is real. And why, pray tell, didn’t they have to do this before? What happened to truth in labeling? Hasn’t that always been an FDA mantra?
The $22 billion industry must now (starting in August) conduct tests to prove that vitamin tablets actually contain vitamin E, or whatever, in the amount listed on the label. Don’t they already do this? Maybe not.
Why hasn’t the FDA already tested these products? We know the agency is under funded, but isn’t this putting the fox in charge of the hen house? As some senators like to say. It’s the same formula the FDA uses with the pharmaceutical industry, allowing (or forcing) manufacturers to conduct their own tests at their considerable expense. The fact is, they are thus free to reject results they don’t like and submit only the most positive tests for FDA approval. I believe that’s how we got a spate of lawsuits over FDA approved prescription drugs that contributed (in predictable ways) to the untimely deaths of patients.
An FDA official says the new regulation will help consumers be more confident that dietary supplements are labeled accurately and free of contamination. And how will they do that, when a huge percentage of the vitamins and supplements sold in this country are produced in, or contain ingredients from, you guessed it, China. With air and water pollution rampant in its burgeoning manufacturing and exporting sectors, how can we be assured that any of the millions of products made there are as labeled and free of toxins.
I recently read somewhere that virtually all of the vitamin C sold here is produced there.
The recent deaths of pets that consumed melamine-laced food should have told us something about the risks. The downside to globalization is that controls are virtually impossible to enforce.
And don’t expect results any time soon. FDA officials say companies with 500 or more employees must implement the changes within a year; those with fewer than 20 workers have three years to comply. Companies who violate the rules may be given time to correct the problem. However, regulators will have authority to seize products not in compliance.
To be fair, regulators have pulled from shelves some supplements found to be contaminated with pesticides, metal and other potentially dangerous ingredients. How were these discovered? Were they subjected to FDA analysis only after illness or death of consumers?
The owner of a local independent health food store used a private lab to test supplements sold by larger market chains. Vitamins from a well-known discount store got mixed reviews. A vitamin B complex capsule contained only high quality ingredients at strengths listed on the label. A CoQ10 capsule from the same store was found to contain nothing but filler. “It may as well have been cardboard,” she said. Still, you probably wouldn’t die from it.
Meanwhile, do we stop taking our vitamins while they work things out? No way. But I’m going to find out if Dr. Andrew Weil’s vitamins are produced in this country or if some ingredients are shipped from Asia. And if so, how does the noted wellness guru maintain quality control?
If government is unwilling to spend our tax dollars on rigorous inspections of all food and supplements coming from abroad, then we need to restrict our consumption to foods grown within, say, 100 miles of where we live, and instill our own regulation process on vitamins and other supplements. Not foolproof but it’s a start.