FDA Chief Blasts Bid to Ease Diet Aid Rules

A bill to ease federal regulation of vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements poses a threat to consumers, the head of the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

FDA chief David A. Kessler told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the legislation would put the burden of proof on the FDA rather than the manufacturer. Products would be presumed safe until proven dangerous, he said.

“At that point, it might be too late for consumers who had unknowingly been exposed to long-term health risks, such as cancer,” Kessler said.

Seated at a table crammed with bottles and boxes of dietary supplements he said made misleading health claims, Kessler said without better rules “we are at risk of turning back to the turn of the century when snake-oil salesmen could hawk their wares.”

The FDA has reported that there are more than 500 products that have no scientific or medical support for their health claims. The products claim to treat everything from cancer to multiple sclerosis to incontinence and varicose veins.