Dietary supplements quality control

Although drugs are subject to rigorous quality control to ensure the nature, potency, and safety of their ingredients, dietary supplements and herbs are not. The FDA has proposed adherence to good manufacturing practices (GMPs) but has not taken the necessary steps to require this. 

PUFA) proportions in comparison with the control group (p < 0.01). The highest dosage of coriander seed (4% added to the ration) systematically induced the greatest effects on fatty acid composition. Consequently, dietary supplementation by coriander seed would improve the quality of the lipid carcass of quails by lowering SFA proportions and by enhancing the contents of PUFA, particularly of n3 PUFA. 

Quality control for herbal medicaments that are sold as dietary supplements in most countries is poor (113,114). Thus, considerable variations in the contents of active ingredients have been reported, with lot-to-lot variations of up to 1000% (115). In most countries, the sale and supply of herbal remedies is to a large extent uncontrolled and unregulated most herbal remedies are sold as unlicensed food supplements and their safety, efficacy, and quality have therefore not been assessed by licensing authorities. Adulteration and contamination of herbal remedies with other plant material and conventional drugs have been documented (25,116) (Table 1). 

Pure reference standards of B complex vitamins can be obtained from USP. Once a LC-MS method for pantothenic acid analysis from multivitamin dietary supplements is developed, the multi-element multivitamin dietary supplement Standard Reference Material 3280 (SRM 3280) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA) can be used for validation and quality control. 

The general basis of U.S. FDA food lead control regulation and how it performs this function is spelled out in two basic statutes. These are, to a limited extent, the Food and Drug Act (F D Act) of 1906 and the 1938 FFDCA. A number of important amendments to the 1938 Act have been enacted over the years, and those of particular relevance to the topic at issue are as follows (1) the Infant Formula Act of 1980 [PL 96—359] (2) Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 [PL 103—417] (3) Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 [PL 104—170] (4) Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003 [PL 108—155] and (5) the Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act of 2006 [PL 109—462]. 

The business of dietary supplements in the Western World has expanded from the Health Store to the pharmacy. Alternative medicine includes plant based products. Appropriate measures to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of these either already exist or are being answered by greater legislative control by such bodies as the Food and Drug Administration of the USA and the recently created European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, based in London. 

Hair and nails Incidental cases reflecting the use of nutritional supplements that escape regulation and quality control have been reported in two cases there were signs consistent with selenium poisoning after use of a dietary supplement called Total Body Formula [45 ]. 

Krenn, L. and Potsch, V. 2006. An efficient HPLC method for the quantification of isoflavones in soy extracts and soy dietary supplements in routine quality control. Pharmazie 61, 582-585. 

Phenylketonuria, an inborn error of phenylalanine metabolism, occurs with a frequency of about 1 in 10,000 births and is treated with a strict dietary regimen. Recently, some patients with PKU have been found to show increased tolerance towards phenylalanine intake, while receiving tetrahydrobiopterin (BH ) supplementation. We have treated two infants with BH -responsive PKU with BH for more than 2 years. No additional dietary control was required to maintain blood phenylalanine concentrations in the desired range. Both children have shown normal development. Generally, these results suggest that BH treatment might be an option for some patients with mild PKU, as it frees them from dietary restriction and thus improves their quality of life. 

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