Why Supplement Access Depends on Public Action Right Now From time to time, legislation appears that has the potential to significantly reshape the supplement industry not by banning products outright, but by changing the rules in ways that only the largest corporations can afford to navigate. In mid-2011, such a moment emerged. What Happened On July 1, 2011, Dick Durbin introduced S.1310, titled the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act of 2011. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a draft guidance document addressing dietary supplement ingredient approval processes. Individually, each action was presented as a consumer-safety initiative.Taken together, they raised serious concerns across the natural health community. Why This Matters The proposed changes would have required additional, costly safety substantiation for ingredients that have long histories of safe use. The concern was not safety itself responsible supplement companies already prioritize quality…

. . . more you can do on the above issue S. 1310 is currently "in committee." It is standard practice that when bills are introduced in either the Senate or the House of Representatives they are sent to a special committee made up of Senators (or Representatives) to study the bill and then come back to the whole group with recommendations. Since the committees receive hundreds of bills, many bills never get reviewed. Instead they "die in committee," and need to be reintroduced the following year. S. 1310 has been sent to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. If any of your state senators sit on this Committee, contact them and let them know of your opposition.  The members of the Committee are: Alaska - Lisa Murkowski (R) Arizona - John McCain (R) Colorado - Michael Bennet (D) Connecticut - Richard Blumenthal (D) (co-sponsor of S. 1310) Georgia - Johnny Isakson (R) Illinois - Mark Kirk (R) Iowa - Tom Harkin (D), Chairman of the Commit…