Dietary supplement : Nutritional supplement

In the United States, a dietary supplement is defined under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 as a product taken by the mouth that contains a dietary ingredient that is intended as a supplement to the diet. By virtue of the act, this dietary ingredient could be one or any combination of the following:

a vitamin,
a mineral,
an herb or other botanical,
an amino acid,
a dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake (e.g., enzymes or tissues from organs or glands), or
a concentrate, metabolite, constituent or extract.

Dietary supplements are not regulated in the same manner as drugs. The FDA doesn't have primary responsibility over their safety. Instead, that role falls to the manufacturer of the supplement itself.

Now, compounds sold under the dietary supplement law cannot make claims about being able to cure diseases. As the FDA states it:

No, a product sold as a dietary supplement and promoted on its label or in labeling* as a treatment, prevention or cure for a specific disease or condition would be considered an unapproved--and thus illegal--drug. To maintain the product's status as a dietary supplement, the label and labeling must be consistent with the provisions in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994.

Note: this is very much a stub for now

Further information

Dietary Supplement

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/supplmnt.html

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dietsupp.html

		Dietary supplement : Nutritional supplement
		In the United States, a dietary supplement is defined under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 as a product taken by the mouth that contains a dietary ingredient that is intended as a supplement to the diet. By virtue of the act, this dietary ingredient could be one or any combination of the following: a vitamin, a mineral, an herb or other botanical, an amino acid, a dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake (e.g., enzymes or tissues from organs or glands), or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent or extract. Dietary supplements are not regulated in the same manner as drugs. The FDA doesn't have primary responsibility over their safety. Instead, that role falls to the manufacturer of the supplement itself. Now, compounds sold under the dietary supplement law cannot make claims about being able to cure diseases. As the FDA states it: No, a product sold as a dietary supplement and promoted on its label or in labeling* as a treatment, prevention or cure for a specific disease or condition would be considered an unapproved--and thus illegal--drug. To maintain the product's status as a dietary supplement, the label and labeling must be consistent with the provisions in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994. Note: this is very much a stub for now Further information Dietary Supplement http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/supplmnt.html Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dietsupp.html
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