National Nutritional Foods Association
3931 MacArthur Blvd.,
Suite 101
Newport Beach, CA 92660
ph: (800) 966-6632
fax: (949) 622-6266
e-mail: nnfa@nnfa.org
Protect Your Access to Dietary Supplements!
Your efforts are needed now more than ever to prevent Congress from overturning the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994
Your efforts in the past several months to oppose Senate Bill 722 have yielded excellent results. You've generated thousands of phone calls, e-mails, and letters letting your Senators know that you intend to protect the health freedoms DSHEA guarantees Americans. But we're not in the clear yet.
Long-time Industry Congressional Champions Need Your Help!
In the final hours before the U.S. Senate recessed in July, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced legislation to increase funding to enable the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to fully implement the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). The "DSHEA Full Implementation and Enforcement Act" (S.1538) would provide the FDA with the funding it needs to ensure the 1994 law is carried out as Congress intended. It would also increase funding for the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements.
Support S. 1538!
No more excuses from the Food and Drug Administration! Give the FDA the resources it needs to implement DSHEA! This bill will eliminate the FDA's favorite excuses that it doesn't have enough staff, money, or power to regulate supplements. The FDA has fallen short when it comes to enforcing the law.
Support research that validates the safety, effectiveness and quality of dietary supplements. Because dietary supplements come from natural ingredients, they can't be patented. While this ensures that these products are readily-and affordably-available, it takes away the ability of manufacturers to recoup research costs. This bill doubles the funding given to the Office of Dietary Supplements to expand research and consumer information about these products.
Hold the government accountable for its actions. This bill will require the FDA to file annual reports to Congress about how they're regulating dietary supplements. If they fail in their responsibilities to fully implement the law, they'll be held accountable.
S. 722 Remains a Threat!
Despite the introduction of S. 1538, the "Dietary Supplement Safety" Act (S. 722) is still a threat. S. 722 would allow no more consumer protection than DSHEA provides. It would, however, significantly undermine many of the freedoms that American consumers of dietary supplements hold dear. Now, more than ever, we need to step up our opposition against this bill.
Oppose S. 722!
The Food and Drug Administration must not be granted new and unprecedented authority to subject safe and beneficial products to additional and unnecessary scrutiny. This bill would subject nearly all vitamins, minerals, herbal products and other supplements to a level of scrutiny that is both unwarranted and unnecessary. Products that have been used safely for hundreds - and in some cases, thousands - of years would be subject to clinical evaluation using standards that are at the complete discretion of the FDA.
The government must not be allowed to limit the freedom of choice of American consumers when it comes to their health. By questioning the safety of any dietary supplement that receives even one complaint, hundreds of products that have been safely and beneficially used could be removed from the marketplace. Under this new legislation, the FDA has complete discretion to make this determination, regardless of whether the product was used under conditions cautioned against by the manufacturer on the label.
The government must not be allowed to single-out dietary supplements. By almost every measure, and by a wide margin, dietary supplements can be used more safely than conventional foods and OTC drugs. Yet this legislation exempts foods in these product categories from being classified as stimulants. Specifically, the bill unfairly excludes the most common "stimulant" ingredient in foods - caffeine.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
These bills could be added to existing Senate legislation as early as September!
We need you to immediately deliver three vital messages to your Senators: 1) let them know that you support S. 1538, 2) you would like them to co-sponsor S. 1538, and 3) you would like them to oppose S. 722.
• Call your Senators now. Call the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or find direct numbers on NNFA's online Advocacy Action Center at www.nnfa.org. When you reach your Senator's office, ask to speak with the staff member in charge of health-related issues and use the message points on the reverse to state your case.
• Write your Senators today. Visit NNFA's Advocacy Action Center at www.nnfa.org to send an e-mail or letter to your Senators immediately.
• Be sure to update your Advocacy Action Kit. NNFA has updated its online Advocacy Action Kit for retailers. The flyer/bag stuffer now includes important information regarding S.1538 as well as information on S. 722. The downloadable pieces of this valuable kit are available for free on NNFA's Advocacy Action Center. These updated materials will also be arriving shortly in your mailbox. NNFA member retailers will receive these updated materials in their mailbox shortly.
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Posted by: OceanDude
It's a conspiracy I tell you. The government does not want you to get healthy, and think clearly and figure out that you don't need them watching out for you and figuring out that income tax is forced slavery. They want you enslaved to a thankless job and getting stressed out and getting fat and sick and demanding they intervene to give you "on demand" "free" medical (with even more taxes) so they can pay the medical community huge medical fees and they can get more campaign money! hehe stirring the pot...
