A call to more heavily regulate the supplement industry

UsedToBeHusky

No sense arguing anymore, you're all right, bigger government is the answer, I'm convinced, the government loves me, and only want's me to be safe. I feel so much better now, the government could never be wrong. I love big brother, 2+2=5.

I'm out.

Rigger

Um... I'm not for increasing regulation. But the complete obliteration of important functions like monitoring goods and products sold to us by malicious nations... yeah... we need to keep that.

jonnythan

No sense arguing anymore, you're all right, bigger government is the answer, I'm convinced, the government loves me, and only want's me to be safe. I feel so much better now, the government could never be wrong. I love big brother, 2+2=5.

I'm out.

Rigger

Ironically, it's the protection of governmental regulatory agencies that is largely responsible for you being so comfortable and happy so as to say that.

jwdieter

No sense arguing anymore, you're all right, bigger government is the answer, I'm convinced, the government loves me, and only want's me to be safe. I feel so much better now, the government could never be wrong. I love big brother, 2+2=5.

I'm out.

In Rigger's World, there are no shades of grey. But there is a lot of anger at every element of modern civilization, brought to him by the evil gubmints.

ReadynWillin

Has no one suggested an independent company for the testing and investigation of supplement products before release to the general public?

A private, for-profit organization is far less likely to give in to those ever-enticing government bribes--I mean, subsidies.

Big government is getting bigger. It's first concern is power and gaining more power, not consumer safety. Politicians' care only about popular public opinion as it affects their place in office. Sad, but true. If possible, it'd be great if the FDA could be replaced with by a private sector counterpart who actually does their own homework, lab studies and all. At least then consumers could get their money's worth out of the products passed.

Edit: darn typos

UsedToBeHusky

No sense arguing anymore, you're all right, bigger government is the answer, I'm convinced, the government loves me, and only want's me to be safe. I feel so much better now, the government could never be wrong. I love big brother, 2+2=5.

I'm out.

In Rigger's World, there are no shades of grey. But there is a lot of anger at every element of modern civilization, brought to him by the evil gubmints.

Somehow, I get the feeling that even if he got his way, he still wouldn't be happy.

UsedToBeHusky

Has no one suggested an independent company for the testing and investigation of supplement products before release to the general public?

A private, for-profit organization is far less likely to give in to those ever-enticing government bribes--I mean, subsidies.

Big government is getting bigger. It's first concern is power and gaining more power, not consumer safety. Politicians' care only about popular public opinion as it affects their place in office. Sad, but true. If possible, it'd be great if the FDA could be replaced with by a private sector counterpart who actually does their own homework, lab studies and all. At least then consumer's could get their money's worth out of the products passed.

Actually, the government does contract a lot of that work out.

ReadynWillin

Yeah, but they still oversee it and make the final decision. If the government really wants to push a certain product, they do so, with little regard to the effectiveness uncovered in the study.

Obviously, if the product is undeniably harming the subjects, then it's discontinued (which is great lol). But my concern is more about whether the reports of the supplement's effectiveness are padded. There's no way to be sure as the current system stands.

ldrosophila

How did a post about regulation on an unregulated industry degenerate into shut the government down?

Just gotta get me other 2 cents in:

There was a time when companies did put terrible stuff into products not out of malice but because of cost and lack of regulation. When it was learned that these were dangerous the government took steps to remove it from products and forced companies.

Remember there is a reason coca-cola is called coca-cola.
Mercury made a great skin whitener
Alcohol in baby's cough syrup worked excellent at soothing the infant
Arsenic made a great preservative
Morphine really helped the baby's toothache
Lead goes great in paint
Asbestos is great at preventing fires
Hey kids lets play with radiation your own gieger counter with authentic chunk of uranium

stumblinthrulife

Has no one suggested an independent company for the testing and investigation of supplement products before release to the general public?

A private, for-profit organization is far less likely to give in to those ever-enticing government bribes--I mean, subsidies.

Big government is getting bigger. It's first concern is power and gaining more power, not consumer safety. Politicians' care only about popular public opinion as it affects their place in office. Sad, but true. If possible, it'd be great if the FDA could be replaced with by a private sector counterpart who actually does their own homework, lab studies and all. At least then consumers could get their money's worth out of the products passed.

Edit: darn typos

Think about this for a while longer.

If it hasn't clicked, perhaps a slight rewrite will help.

"A private organization motivated solely by money is far less likely to accept offers of money to pass a product."

How much sense does that statement make now?

wheird

It is kind of funny, considering that I am a staunch Libertarian, but I do believe in the necessity of regulating medicines, supplements, and food. Testing whether a product is safe, contains what it says it does, and is not contaminated are not things that an average citizen can do through due diligence. Without these regulations, and if no independent lab has verified has tested them and publishec their results, they are at the mercy of the manufacturer.

Doesn't sound "staunch" to me.

Yeah, having independent thought that strays from party line positions is awful, isnt it?

jonnythan

Has no one suggested an independent company for the testing and investigation of supplement products before release to the general public?

A private, for-profit organization is far less likely to give in to those ever-enticing government bribes--I mean, subsidies.

Big government is getting bigger. It's first concern is power and gaining more power, not consumer safety. Politicians' care only about popular public opinion as it affects their place in office. Sad, but true. If possible, it'd be great if the FDA could be replaced with by a private sector counterpart who actually does their own homework, lab studies and all. At least then consumers could get their money's worth out of the products passed.

Edit: darn typos

Think about this for a while longer.

If it hasn't clicked, perhaps a slight rewrite will help.

"A private organization motivated solely by money is far less likely to accept offers of money to pass a product."

How much sense does that statement make now?

For-profit companies wouldn't dare do anything bad because their reputations are everything.

ReadynWillin

A private, for-profit organization is far less likely to give in to those ever-enticing government bribes--I mean, subsidies.

Think about this for a while longer.

If it hasn't clicked, perhaps a slight rewrite will help.

"A private organization motivated solely by money is far less likely to accept offers of money to pass a product."

How much sense does that statement make now?

Key words in bold. Look at it this way: The only income of the FDA is government money. As such, they have to go with the government's agendas. They haven't got the alternative source of income that a private organization does.

wheird

I love how the anti-regulation side ignored my question as to what due diligence would entail.

rassha01

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/11/vitamins-herbal-dietarysupplementsregulatefda.html

Presented without comment.

wheird

A private, for-profit organization is far less likely to give in to those ever-enticing government bribes--I mean, subsidies.

Think about this for a while longer.

If it hasn't clicked, perhaps a slight rewrite will help.

"A private organization motivated solely by money is far less likely to accept offers of money to pass a product."

How much sense does that statement make now?

Key words in bold. Look at it this way: The only income of the FDA is government money. As such, they have to go with the government's agendas. They haven't got the alternative source of income that a private organization does.

I suggest you check your premises and dig a little deeper into the root causes.

linznzeusfitnfight

I skimmed it, so I only got the gist, but I fully agree that the industry needs some serious regulation, including quality testing and claim verification. This would likely shut down the majority of the companies producing them.


About a decade ago I remember reading about EAS doing some independent testing of their competitors and most underdelivered what their labels claimed to contain by a shocking amount.

yup! my mom has a masters in health and nurtion and they put not so great stuff in there...

RivenV

ReadynWillin

Thanks for the suggestion. But I'll stick with what I've already researched.

jonnythan

Key words in bold. Look at it this way: The only income of the FDA is government money. As such, they have to go with the government's agendas. They haven't got the alternative source of income that a private organization does.

That would be a conflict of interest if they were regulating government itself.

linznzeusfitnfight

How did a post about regulation on an unregulated industry degenerate into shut the government down?

Just gotta get me other 2 cents in:

There was a time when companies did put terrible stuff into products not out of malice but because of cost and lack of regulation. When it was learned that these were dangerous the government took steps to remove it from products and forced companies.

Remember there is a reason coca-cola is called coca-cola.
Mercury made a great skin whitener
Alcohol in baby's cough syrup worked excellent at soothing the infant
Arsenic made a great preservative
Morphine really helped the baby's toothache
Lead goes great in paint
Asbestos is great at preventing fires
Hey kids lets play with radiation your own gieger counter with authentic chunk of uranium

verty very true!! and if i rememeber from history class the meat industry was disgusting.