Health Claims Allowed for Botanical Products

Readers might conclude from "Commission Asks FDA to
Regulate Diet Supplement" (June 25) that the Presidential
Commission on Dietary Supplement Labels recommended that
botanicals be regulated as drugs instead of as supplements. As a
member of the commission, I can assure your readers that this was
not at all the case.
The commission affirmed that botanical products, like other
dietary supplements, are eligible for certain types of label
claimshealth claims and statements of nutritional support.
If manufacturers wish to make stronger claimsdrug claimsfor
such products, then they must have FDA approval. There is a
procedure in place called the OTC Drug Review, by which the
FDA reviews the evidence supporting various classes of drug
products. The commission simply recommended that the FDA use
the existing OTC review process to evaluate botanical products that
may be eligible for drug claims.

ANNETTE DICKINSON
Director of Scientific and
Regulatory Affairs, Council
for Responsible Nutrition,
and member, Commission on
Dietary Supplement Labels
Washington

Copyright Los Angeles Times
letters@latimes.com
fax: 2132374712