Food Safety Bill won’t penalize dietary supplements players

The group said the potential for elements of the Dietary Supplement Safety Act (S. 3002) rescinded by Republican Senator John McCain earlier this year, to be introduced into the Food Safety Bill had been avoided.

ANH-USA is not a supporter of the Bill as it doesn’t believe that it will improve food safety in the US, but welcomed the inclusions – and omissions – related to dietary supplements.

The DEA is to be notified whenever the FDA denies a New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) application because of suspected anabolic steroid in the ingredient. This is a good thing, because it will help maintain the integrity of the natural products community.

The two sections written into the legislation related to backed by ANH-USA include:

• That the Drug Enforcement Agency be notified whenever the FDA denies a New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) application because of suspected anabolic steroid in the ingredient.

“This is a good thing, because it will help maintain the integrity of the natural products community,” ​the ANH-USA said.

• The FDA is to issue new NDI guidance.

“The FDA was already in the process of drafting it, so there’s really no change there.”​

Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), who played key roles in demonstrating to McCain why his Bill was poorly written and would never gain any traction in Congress, had nonetheless come to agreements over other potential provisions in the Bill.

One of these gives the FDA recall authority of adulterated or misbranded foods and supplements, but these provisions were already part of the Food Safety Bill, ANH-USA said.

It said 10-year prison sentences that had been proposed by Henry Waxman in a separate Bill (Leahy) for foods and supplements manufacturers had been withdrawn.

It said: “Even better, Henry Waxman has agreed that the House will accept the Senate’s Food Safety bill in place of its own, which is far, far worse, and contained the ten-year jail terms. So this means that ten-year jail terms should not be in a final Food Safety bill.”​

The Food Safety Modernization Act, as it is officially known, has passed back to the Senate following its approval by the House on Wednesday as part of a much larger bill detailing government funding.

The $1.09trn appropriations bill passed the House 212-206 and must now go back to the Senate to be reapproved. It is expected that the chamber will vote on it this week.

The sweeping food safety legislation had encountered a constitutional snag – despite passing with a bipartisan 73-25 vote on November 30 – and was stalled after House Democrats said that it contained fees that are considered tax provisions. Under the Constitution, revenue-raising provisions must originate in the House.