Counsel’s Perspective
Scott Bass then shared his thoughts on what counted most in DSHEA in 1994 from his perspective at the times as counsel for the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA, now called the Natural Products Association). On Scott's list were:
1. Creating a new Dietary Supplement category in the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act without disturbing the drug, food or animal drug categories
2. Getting Rid of the “Unsafe Food Additive “ FDA theory that lasted for 14 years and kept everything new off the market. Later declared by courts as an “Alice in Wonderland theory”: requiring FDA pre-approval because putting vitamin E into a vitamin E capsule was adding an unapproved additive to the vitamin E capsule (a food).
3. Giving FDA more safety enforcement power to protect consumers—especially after L-tryptophan
4. Getting GMPs in place to give products credibility in the marketplace
5. Getting Dietary Supplement structure/function claims solidly in the law