HO2
|
Joined: 10/11/2008
Msg: 1 | |
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/17/2009 9:33:44 PM | Americans spent 25 billion dollars a year on crap other than food to put into their mouth and swallow.
Dietary supplements ___ do not___need approval from FDA before they are marketed.
The only role the FDA plays in a manufacturer’s decision to produce and market
a diet supplement is that each “dietary ingredient” used must first be FDA-approved.
The FDA ___ not the manufacturer___ has the responsibility for showing
that a dietary supplement is unsafe before it can take action to restrict or remove from the marketplace.
The onus is on the buyer because most ingredients have not been studied to any extent
---whether or not they work or are safe is anecdotal, or completely meaningless.
It's ALL about greed and seperating you from your hard earned $$$.
How many of you really, truly, deep down, feel safe putting anything other than food in your mouth ?
Do you actually know what is in the supplement you bought - the government doesn't . | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/17/2009 10:43:43 PM | | hi... I agree.. outside of a few angrom sized minerals a few times a yr when I think about it I have not put anything suppliment wise into my system... high raw organic vegetarian food pls sunshine, ocean/mountain air, rest, prayer, love, exercise , pure water seem to work well for me and my teen... many blessings for health | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/26/2009 9:39:32 PM |
Americans spent 25 billion dollars a year on crap other than food to put into their mouth and swallow.
Dietary supplements ___ do not___need approval from FDA before they are marketed.
And still have a very high level of safety. How did man manage to live tens of thousands of years without the FDA?
The only role the FDA plays in a manufacturer’s decision to produce and market
a diet supplement is that each “dietary ingredient” used must first be FDA-approved.
The FDA ___ not the manufacturer___ has the responsibility for showing
that a dietary supplement is unsafe before it can take action to restrict or remove from the marketplace.
Good. Do you wish to pay $5 a pill for melatonin? Ester-C? Ginseng?
I prefer to have the right to choose as opposed to have beauracrats banning everything under the sun for whatever reason they can concoct.
The onus is on the buyer because most ingredients have not been studied to any extent
---whether or not they work or are safe is anecdotal, or completely meaningless.
It's ALL about greed and seperating you from your hard earned $$$.
How is the sale of a supplement different than the sale of any other good? I pay for my DVD's with "hard earned $$$", so I guess this too must be "ALL about greed", right? The "greed" argument is a sure sign of a weak argument, since any action that entails the transfer of money can be attributed to 'greed'.
How many of you really, truly, deep down, feel safe putting anything other than food in your mouth ?
From market sales, pretty much most of the American public does. You must feel lonely, huh?
Do you actually know what is in the supplement you bought - the government doesn't .
WHAT??!?!?!! You mean the government doesn't know every action I take at every waking moment?!?!?!
We need to have sensors placed in our colons so that the government can monitor everything we put in our bodies at all times. | |
|
HO2
|
Joined: 10/11/2008
Msg: 4 | |
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 9:38:18 AM | Not everyone puts their DVD's up their but and in their mouths,
but if you paid for it with $$$ I guess it's your right.
The FDA fails on numerous lavels to keep anyone safe, yourself included.
--they are consistently bought off, coerced and asked to look the other way. | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 9:57:30 AM |
Not everyone puts their DVD's up their but and in their mouths,
but if you paid for it with $$$ I guess it's your right.
I don't know many people who take their supplements rectally, but if that's their choice, who am I to argue.
It would be interesting to see the number of people who worry about this lack of FDA regulation of supplements, yet have consumed illicit drugs such as marijuana. I'm sure Cheech the drug dealer tested his weed thoroughly to ensure its safety.
The FDA fails on numerous lavels to keep anyone safe, yourself included.
--they are consistently bought off, coerced and asked to look the other way.
I actually agree with the general idea of the FDA's failings, which I believe is rooted in it's political nature. Because so much of its actions are related to political pressure and not real science or respect for liberty, I do not wish to see it granted more power. | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 9:57:57 AM | And still have a very high level of safety. How did man manage to live tens of thousands of years without the FDA?
It was easy before people realized they could mix a bunch of FDA approved chemicals together make erroneous claims and then sell it to anyone with enough $ and lack of education to buy it.
They know that they do not have to submit anything to the FDA other than the list of ingredients and nothing will get tested unless people start dieing.
Other non fatal short term / long term effects of their concoction could go unreported.
I think that what people fail to realize is when they buy supplements they think well they must be safe because the FDA says so, but they do not understand there is no testing and you are on your own.
That said.
I say all the power to them, its a free market and if you can convince people to buy your stuff all for the sake of vanity, go for it and make as much $ as you can.
It would be interesting to see the number of people who worry about this lack of FDA regulation of supplements, yet have consumed illicit drugs such as marijuana. I'm sure Cheech the drug dealer tested his weed thoroughly to ensure its safety.
Maybe they do not care because no one has ever died from consuming marijuana.
| |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 10:14:53 AM |
It was easy before people realized they could mix a bunch of FDA approved chemicals together make erroneous claims and then sell it to anyone with enough $ and lack of education to buy it.
They know that they do not have to submit anything to the FDA other than the list of ingredients and nothing will get tested unless people start dieing.
Other non fatal short term / long term effects of their concoction could go unreported.
No doubt. But this same fact exists with FDA "approved" goods as well. Early clinical trials of drugs can only detect so much based on limited sample sizes. Its when the drug gets approval and real world sample sizes can be observed that potentially serious side effects can manifest.
Likewise, batch contaminants occur in FDA "approved" products.
I think that what people fail to realize is when they buy supplements they think well they must be safe because the FDA says so, but they do not understand there is no testing and you are on your own.
This is the moral hazard that occurs when people have been lulled into the belief that x, y, z government agency can make everything safe for them.
But again, the real world results show a very high level of safety in the supplement market. The most common problem is not harmful products, but worthless products or one's that don't even have the ingredient listed.
That said.
I say all the power to them, its a free market and if you can convince people to buy your stuff all for the sake of vanity, go for it and make as much $ as you can.
Most of the supplement industry is about health, not aesthetics. Prior to the DSHEA Act, the supplement industry had virtually nothing. Vitamin C could not be sold above 500mg per pill. There was no melatonin, Gingko, creatine, resveratrol, etc. and there was no possibility they would see the light of day, because the manufacturer would have to spend millions of dollars just to get FDA approval to sell the product.
The sellers definitely want to profit from their products, but it is foolish to think that they have no concern about harming their customers. You are still liable for damages that your product causes and if you are really only in it for money, you don't make alot of money when people start dying from your product. | |
|
| |
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 11:08:46 AM | The FDA needs to stick to food and drugs. First Red Yeast Rice, then one of the B vitamins -- both made prescription only. It seems that any vitamin or supplement that actually works is quickly ruled to be a drug so that some large corporation can turn a profit from selling it.
How long before vitamin C is illegal and available by prescription only?
People need to choose supplements carefully, but we don't need the FDA to tell us what is safe. Independent lab tests, common sense, and plain old product liability are adequate protections in my opinion. | |
|
| |
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 11:43:50 AM |
Most of the supplement industry is about health, not aesthetics. Prior to the DSHEA Act, the supplement industry had virtually nothing. Vitamin C could not be sold above 500mg per pill. There was no melatonin, Gingko, creatine, resveratrol, etc. and there was no possibility they would see the light of day, because the manufacturer would have to spend millions of dollars just to get FDA approval to sell the product.
And when was this? I remember buying lots of herbs freely back in 1972 when I was the herb & spice buyer for a food coop and a vegetarian restaurant. I don't remember ginko being on the radar then but we had dozens and dozens of herbs.
The FDA doesn't have to "approve" them. There is no testing, nothing that verifies that what it says on the label is, in fact, what the product contains. More about this later, but there have been some alarming cases and I myself recently found out that an "herbal remedy" I bought years ago was probably laced with pharmaceuticals. The guy who was formulated it got busted after the *Canadian* board of health tested some samples. He could have continued uninterrupted here because the FDA does not regulate herbs in the U.S. | |
|
HO2
|
Joined: 10/11/2008
Msg: 12 | |
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 11:59:33 AM | People in the USA want to pop a pill to fix all their woes --the profits margins reflect that.
Vanity will never dissappear , lots of people pay Enormous Amounts of $$ for aesthetics
----under the guise of health
Protectionism of pharmaceutical companies (supplement companies) has to stop.
--how many recalls exist........I've lost count about 3 decades ago
Pseudo-Science, snake oil salesmen, call it what you will, --it's still duping people out of cash | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 12:18:42 PM |
And when was this? I remember buying lots of herbs freely back in 1972 when I was the herb & spice buyer for a food coop and a vegetarian restaurant. I don't remember ginko being on the radar then but we had dozens and dozens of herbs.
Herbs sold as spices don't fall under dietary supplements. Some herbs are GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safe, such as Ginseng, due to historical use in the US, but things like St. Johns Wort or Chinese Club Moss (Huperzia serrata) are not consumed typically as "spices". Their use has been strictly as "dietary supplements" and would not have been allowed prior to DSHEA.
The FDA doesn't have to "approve" them. There is no testing, nothing that verifies that what it says on the label is, in fact, what the product contains. More about this later, but there have been some alarming cases and I myself recently found out that an "herbal remedy" I bought years ago was probably laced with pharmaceuticals. The guy who was formulated it got busted after the *Canadian* board of health tested some samples. He could have continued uninterrupted here because the FDA does not regulate herbs in the U.S.
This is not unheard and is why people have to be wary of what they use. But again, an FDA stamp of approval doesn't make this go away. People are lulled into believing that "FDA approval" = safe, which is simply not realistic. The FDA doesn't analyze every batch of every product that they approve. You would paralyze the market and drive up costs to enormous levels. | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 12:27:41 PM |
People in the USA want to pop a pill to fix all their woes --the profits margins reflect that.
No doubt they do. Should they not be allowed to?
Vanity will never dissappear , lots of people pay Enormous Amounts of $$ for aesthetics
----under the guise of health
Sometimes yes.
Protectionism of pharmaceutical companies (supplement companies) has to stop.
--how many recalls exist........I've lost count about 3 decades ago
Supplement companies are not pharmaceutical companies. Most supplement companies are small compared to a Pfizer or Merck. Pharmaceutical companies lobby government extensively. Supplement companies on the other hand probably spend next to nothing on lobbying, and mostly to fight against restrictive legislation.
Pseudo-Science, snake oil salesmen, call it what you will, --it's still duping people out of cash
You're free to call it and think of it as you wish. Don't buy it. That's your right.
Millions disagree. | |
|
HO2
|
Joined: 10/11/2008
Msg: 15 | |
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 12:42:03 PM | Millions disagree........fools, every last one of them
People are lulled into believing that "FDA approval" = safe, which is simply not realistic.
People don't NEED supplements, they need a solid, containment free food supply every day.
( want and need being the key operative words, unfortunately often based on fear, mis-information ) | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 1:24:03 PM |
Hell, most of the stuff labeled as "food" I fear more than the occasional vitamin supplement I take. AMEN!!!! Unless you're growing your own food, you're trusting your nutrition to someone else looking to make a buck off of you- I fail to see the difference at all.
And what kind of supps are we talking about anyways? Do I take a multi-vitamin? No. A "weightloss" pill? No. Do I take omega capsules? Absolutely- I think my body needs it, but I absolutely can't suffer through eating fish. I gag trying to eat it. Have I taken msm on occasion? Yes. Felt it helped? Absolutely. There are herbal items that are much easier to find and ingest when they are ground in a powder and put in a capsule. And I'd much rather fix a concern with a herbal remedy than a pharmaceutical drug.
People don't NEED supplements, they need a solid, containment free food supply every day People who want to stand on soap boxes should be able to at least get something simple like contaminant free right. | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 2:40:46 PM |
Millions disagree........fools, every last one of them
Freedom entails personal error.
People don't NEED supplements, they need a solid, containment free food supply every day.
( want and need being the key operative words, unfortunately often based on fear, mis-information )
How wonderful the world would be if we only had the things that we absolutely needed. No cars, no planes, no computers, no deoderants, no luxuries of any kind. Just shelter, clothing and food. Who else longs for the Cro-Magnon days...raise your hand?
People DON'T NEED paternalists who believe that they should dictate what people "need" or "want". | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 3:39:19 PM |
...How wonderful the world would be if we only had the things that we absolutely needed. No cars, no planes, no computers, no deoderants, no luxuries of any kind. Just shelter, clothing and food. Who else longs for the Cro-Magnon days...raise your hand?...
Hands up here.
Living in a world where all you do is act on instinct and survival and reproduction are your only concern.
You live in complete harmony with nature.
Yep. I am in. | |
|
HO2
|
Joined: 10/11/2008
Msg: 19 | |
| |
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 5:50:24 PM | Couple that with the fact that the FDA could now honestly say that, because of cuts, it was understaffed. The answer was essentially legislation allowing pharmaceutical companies to pay the salaries of the staff at the FDA. In 1992, the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) stipulated that a fee (now $576,000) be paid to the FDA by the pharmaceutical companies for each new drug application. The number of staff at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) doubled overnight. Today, the FDA receives about $260 million a year from these fees. Part of the bill stipulated that funding by Congress for new drug evaluations had to increase by 3% per year. Since the overall funding for the FDA did not increase at 3% per year, the FDA had to actually cut funding for surveillance and research of approved drugs.
http://www.oftwominds.com/journal08/Prescription-Drugs.htm
I'm more disturbed by the facts that the pharmaceutical companies are paying the FDA and that the FDA had to actually cut their funding for surveillance and research of approved drugs. | |
|
| |
HO2
|
Joined: 10/11/2008
Msg: 22 | |
| |
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 7:37:11 PM |
Hands up here.
Living in a world where all you do is act on instinct and survival and reproduction are your only concern.
You live in complete harmony with nature.
Yep. I am in.
There are still relatively uncivilized areas of the world where you are free to live as such. Though I suspect that logging onto POF will be hard to do. | |
|
| Wild West of Supplements - who is monitoring Your Health ?
Posted: 8/27/2009 7:40:17 PM |
ANYONE can buy supplements, as opposed to prescription drugs which need doctors in the loop.
That alone changes the equation opening up a world of bizarre ingredients
You have a pathological desire to control what others are able to choose. | |
|
HO2
|
Joined: 10/11/2008
Msg: 25 | |
| |
Home
login 
