The Dietary Supplement Label the FDA Doesn’t Want You To See By Bill Sardi Nov 24, 2011
Contains the following boardwalk graphic, although there is no concept of sequence
Legend, clockwise:
- FDA = government agency whose purpose is largely to promote drugs over dietary supplements;
- NIH = National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements, which is now threatening to declare all supplements are drugs;
- Adverse Event Reporting Hotline = phone number to call if dietary supplements cause a serious side effect; (unable to find it)
- CODEX = comprised of representatives from different countries for the purpose of "harmonizing" the dose of dietary supplements worldwide;
- Food & Nutrition Board = government-appointed committee that establishes daily nutrient needs for the population;
- Big Pharma = pharmaceutical industry ($883 billion in sales) that dwarfs sales of dietary supplements ($20 billion);
- US Dept Agriculture = plays peripheral role in making recommendations for nutrients in the population;
- Physician Groups (AMA) = physicians receive little training about dietary supplements but somehow know all the side effects posed by vitamin pills;
- Health & Human Services Food Stamp Program = which does not pay for dietary supplements for the group that is most needy in the population;
- Federal Trade Commission = sanctions and fines companies who make untruthful claims about their products;
- News Media = largely controlled by Big Pharma which sponsors most evening network TV news programs;
- Health Freedom Organizations (Citizens for Health, Natural Solutions Foundation, National Health Federation, etc) = groups that pretend to oppose restrictions on health freedoms and access to dietary supplements who tend to be alarmist and constantly seek donations; National Health Federation is only group that has standing at CODEX;
- National Sanitation Foundation, US Pharmacopeia = independent organizations that certify the quality of dietary supplements;
- Health insurance and Medicare = pools of insurance money that do not reimburse for dietary supplements because they are "unproven";
- Quackwatch = anti-dietary supplement website that somehow has high ranking on the internet, declared two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling a health quack;
- Council for Responsible Nutrition = industry group that represents dietary supplement manufacturers;
- Natural Products Association = industry group that represents supplement makers and retail stores;
- Consumerlab.com = organization that is a shill for the FDA comprised of former FDA personnel who expose improperly labeled dietary supplements.
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