On October 10, 2019, Nutritional Outlook featured commentary from Claudia Lewis about the 25th anniversary of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), how it has aged, and what a DSHEA 2.0 should look like. The following is an excerpt:
As we all know, the New Dietary Ingredient notification process is underutilized. Initially, that was due to lack of enforcement action. Now, that is largely due to the lack of clear guidance on the process and the unpredictability of the agency’s response. In my view, DSHEA was drafted to be a low barrier of entry for supplement products. And the New Dietary Ingredient [provision] was implemented to be sure that ingredients that did not have a market history were safe. Rather than using the process to limit ingredient innovation, it should be used as it was intended, to confirm the safe intended use of an ingredient. This can be accomplished with a policy change and perspective within the agency.