Health Claims Substantiation on a Dietary Supplement
You might have heard a claim like “this particular product will make you look 5 years younger!” The question is whether such a product actually performs its claims. National Advertising Division (NAD), The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other government agencies (OGAs) take it upon themselves to ensure that these “too good to be true” claims are not misleading users.
Dietary Supplements in the US do not undergo a licensing or approval process by the FDA. It is very important for any company to ensure that any structure-function claim made on a dietary supplement label is truthful, not be misleading, and that the manufacturers have evidence to support these claims. This is clearly stated in the regulations in section 403(r)(6) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343 (r) (6)).
