• Convenience Store News, Friday, July 1, 2011 9:45 AM

U.S. Sen. Rick Durbin, D-Illinois, says more regulation is needed to ensure that consumers have information at their disposal to distinguish between products that are safe and others that contain potentially dangerous ingredients that haven't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Durbin said he is therefore introducing the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act meant to improve the quality of label information and put a halt to drinks and foods masquerading as dietary supplements as a way of getting around FDA review and regulation procedures.

"At most convenience stores, you can't make it to the cash register without encountering flashy advertising displays for energy supplements like 5-Hour Energy," the senator said. "These products, which market themselves as dietary supplements that offer a boost of energy, are foods and beverages taking advantage of the less stringent safety standards for dietary supplements under current law. When consumers walk down the aisle, they see products that contain potentially unsafe additives right next to beverages that have undergone FDA approval, but they aren't easily able to tell the difference." He points out that manufacturers of dietary supplements do not have to prove their products are safe before selling them to consumers.

His proposed legislation directs the FDA, rather than leaving it to the manufacturers themselves, to establish a definition for "conventional foods," which would clarify which products are foods and should be regulated as such, and which products are meant to be health aids and should be regulated as dietary supplements.

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