Safety and Health Claims : Dietary Supplements : Nutrition.gov

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Tips For The Savvy Supplement User: Making Informed Decisions And Evaluating Information
DHHS. FDA. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Also available in Spanish.

What Dietary Supplements Are You Taking? Does Your Health Care Provider Know? It Matters, And Here's Why
DHHS. FDA. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Information and tools to help talk with your doctor and other health care providers (dietitian, nurse, pharmacist, etc.) and help sort reliable information from questionable about dietary supplements. Also in PDF|124 KB.

Herbal Supplements: Consider Safety, Too
DHHS. NIH. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Fact sheet with points to consider for safety if using, or thinking about using, herbs for health purposes. Also in PDF |235 KB.

Test Your Supplement Savvy
Federal Trade Commission.
Five question quiz (with answers) for consumers related to dietary supplement safety.

Dietary Supplements: Adverse Event Reporting
DHHS. FDA. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Information on how to report an illness or injury associated with a dietary supplement to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and also reporting unlawful sales of dietary supplements on the internet.

Dietary Supplements: Warnings and Safety Information
DHHS. FDA. Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition.
Provides updated warnings and safety information reported for specific dietary supplements.

'Miracle' Health Claims: Add a Dose of Skepticism
Federal Trade Commission; Food and Drug Administration.
Article with tips to learn how to assess health claims. Also in PDF (47 KB).

What's in the Bottle? An Introduction to Dietary Supplements
DHHS. NIH. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Available in PDF|328 KB. Also available in Spanish.

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, Public Law 103-417
DHHS. NIH. Office of Dietary Supplements.
Find the wording of the Federal Regulations regarding dietary supplements, as amended to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 103rd Congress.

Claims That Can Be Made for Conventional Foods and Dietary Supplements
DHHS. FDA. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Describes what health claims, nutrient content claims, and structure/function claims on labels are authorized by the FDA for foods and dietary supplements.

Health Claims that Meet Significant Scientific Agreement (SSA)
DHHS. FDA. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Provides a list of currently approved FDA health claims for use with food and dietary supplements.

Qualified Health Claims
DHHS. FDA. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Provides a list of currently approved FDA "qualified" health claims for use with food and dietary supplements.

Do CAM Therapies Help Menopausal Symptoms?
DHHS. NIH. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Fact sheet based on findings from a 2005 National Institutes of Health (NIH) State-of-the-Science (SoS) conference on the management of menopause-related symptoms. It answers some frequently asked questions and lists resources for more information.

Ephedra Backgrounder
DHHS. NIH. Office of Dietary Supplements.
Find links to reports about health risks and FDA prohibition on ephedra-containing supplements. Includes review of effectiveness and safety of ephedra and ephedrine alkaloids for weight loss or enhanced athletic performance.

MedlinePlus: Anabolic Steroids
DHHS. NIH. National Library of Medicine.
Provides a gateway to the latest news and cautions on the topic of anabolic steroids. Also offers links to research and related topics. Also in Spanish.

Garlic and Cancer Prevention: Fact Sheet
DHHS. NIH. National Cancer Institute.
Provides background information on garlic and its possible health benefits and roles in preventing cancer.

FDA to Encourage Science-based Labeling and Competition for Healthier Dietary Choices
DHHS. Food and Drug Administration.
Provides information on an FDA initiative and report concerning the improvement of food labeling and actions against misleading claims.

Food Safety: Improvements Needed in Overseeing the Safety of Dietary Supplements and "Functional Foods" (PDF|974 KB)
US General Accounting Office.
2000 report reviews regulations on health claims and safety of dietary supplements and functional foods with recommendations to Congress and the Food and Drug Administration for improvements in federal oversight of these products.

Health Products for Seniors: "Anti-Aging" Products Pose Potential for Physical and Economic Harm (PDF|477 KB)
US General Accounting Office.
2001 report examines whether anti-aging and alternative medicine products, particularly dietary supplements aimed at conditions of aging, cause physical and economic harm to senior citizens.

Last Modified: Sep 10, 2008


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