The Food and Drink Administration (FDA) has sent out a warning, designed to protect the wellness and wellbeing of consumers, stating that products that are labelled as a dietary supplement may not be labelled as a conventional food product.
With many vitamins, minerals and supplements on the shelves these days, the FDA wants to ensure that all consumers are aware of exactly what they are purchasing.
This has originated from a row over a company called Nature’s Health Options LLC, which is the distributor of a product called Charantea Bitter Melon Ampalaya. They produce this either as 500mg capsules and also as teabags. They were recently accused of making statements on their website that appeared to represent the product as a traditional food rather than a supplement.
The FDA has got in touch with all companies to make it clear that if something is labelled as a dietary supplement, it must be a dietary supplement. If it is more of a conventional food, then it is misbranded, and the label of supplement is therefore misleading to the consumer.
Charantea’s website was particularly highlighted as an example of this, and the FDA letter drew attention to the statement which described the tea as ‘a great alternative to coffee or traditional teas’ (thus representing it as a foodstuff – an everyday drink) and also to ‘your healthy after-meal beverage’. This is a strong contrast to Nature’s Health Options’ own description of the product as a vegetable and medicinal herb that grows in South America and Asia.