Nutraceuticals Research Needs Protection

A research-intensive nutraceuticals industry would benefit the American public both in the prevention and in the treatment of disease, according to a statement issued at the end of a daylong session sponsored by the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine and presented to Senator Tom Harkin and Patricia Knight, an aide to Senator Orrin Hatch.

The meeting, the sixth in the series by the Foundation, was held to determine ways in which the US Congress can help set up such an industry. After much discussion, the Foundation determined that for over-the-counter drugmakers, food manufacturers and dietary supplement firms to spend the money needed to stimulate research, they would need a claims system that is not too lengthy nor too costly; a system in which both health and disease claims could be made, based on peer-reviewed, preclinical and clinical data; and a system that provides for exclusive claims to the company sponsoring the research. The Foundation concluded that four major new legislative provisions should be enacted, and these are:

- dietary supplements and conventional foods must have the same opportunities and standards for bearing claims;