FDA Says It Won’t Restrict Dietary Supplements

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration offered assurances Tuesday that dietary supplements will remain widely available, even though it will soon be able to regulate the claims on their labels for the first time.

A moratorium that barred the FDA from regulating vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids and other health food store staples expires today.

The agency said it was not going to require prescriptions for dietary supplements or take them off the shelves at health food stores, as the industry has claimed in a lobbying campaign.

There are a wide variety of dietary supplements, including vitamins A and C, shark cartilage and cow glands, among others.

The FDA says it is only moving to enforce the 1990 Nutritional Labeling and Education Act, which limits the health claims that can be made on the label for any food or dietary supplement.

The agency said it will publish the final labeling rules by Dec. 31.

“The public can be assured that access will not be altered when the moratorium expires, or after the labeling rules we will publish later this month go into effect,” FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler said.

Several consumer groups that support the FDA charged Tuesday that the industry has waged a campaign of misinformation about the agency’s intentions. Industry backers in turn accused them of misrepresentation.

“The sky is not going to fall. . . .” said Bruce Silverglade, director of legal affairs for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a private group that advocates greater scrutiny of food additives.