Policymakers

The passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994 represented a balanced and informed approach to protecting consumer health and access to dietary supplements. With DSHEA, Congress took an important step in recognizing the role supplements can play in promoting health and preventing chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.

DSHEA ensures access to safe products, made to quality standards. The law also emphasizes the importance of communicating the positive health benefits of supplements so that consumers can make informed decisions about their health.

This comprehensive piece of legislation defines dietary supplements, creates a mechanism for dealing with safety issues, regulates health claims and labeling of dietary supplements, provides for good manufacturing practices, and establishes new government entities to review regulations and encourage research on dietary supplements.

Congress is considering legislation that jeopardizes the important role that DSHEA plays in protecting consumers' access to the safe and affordable dietary supplements they depend on for good health. The federal government should continue to take swift action against products that are unsafe or adulterated, but it should not impose unreasonable regulatory barriers limiting or slowing the flow of safe products and accurate information to consumers.

We oppose the following legislation, which would restrict access to safe, affordable dietary supplements:

A bill to ban dehyrdroepiandrosterone (DHEA), S. 762 and H.R. 1249

We support the following legislation that would ensure consumer access to safe, effective and affordable dietary supplements:

The Dietary Supplement and Healthy Meal Replacement Tax Parity Act, H.R. 1107.