DSHEA stands for the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which is a law enacted in the United States in 1994. It is a federal regulation that governs the manufacturing, labeling, and marketing of dietary supplements. The primary goal of DSHEA is to ensure consumer safety and provide accurate information about the supplements available in the market.
Under DSHEA, a dietary supplement is defined as a product that contains one or more dietary ingredients, such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, amino acids, or any other substances that are intended to supplement the diet. The act excludes conventional foods, meal replacements, medical foods, and drugs from this definition.
The act establishes certain requirements that manufacturers and distributors must follow. These include ensuring that supplements are safe to consume, have accurate labeling, and are manufactured in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). DSHEA allows manufacturers to make certain claims about the benefits, properties, or effects of their supplements as long as they are backed by reliable scientific evidence.
DSHEA also established the Office of Dietary Supplements within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to promote research and provide educational resources on dietary supplements. It also granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate and monitor the safety and labeling of dietary supplements.
Overall, DSHEA is a regulatory framework in the United States that ensures the safety, accuracy of labeling, and proper manufacturing of dietary supplements while allowing manufacturers to make certain claims about their products based on scientific evidence.
