Over 60 Billion Doses a Year and Not ONE Death, But Still Not Safe?
By Dr. Mercola
April 23 2012
Vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements have a tremendously safe track record, yet they are often singled out as being potentially dangerous by government agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This – the notion that dietary supplements are unsafe -- is the premise behind the FDA's Draft Guidance on New Dietary Ingredients, which would require the supplement industry to prove the safety of natural ingredients that, in many cases, have been on the market and used safely for decades.
As new research from the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System reveals, there were zero deaths linked to nutritional supplements in 2010, the most current data available.
Zero Deaths Linked to Vitamin Supplements
However, in the FDA's new Draft Guidance, the FDA is essentially claiming that dietary supplements are unsafe, and implying that in order to "protect consumers" the agency must place a stranglehold on the dietary supplement industry by requesting exorbitant safety testing.
These ludicrous safety thresholds are in excess of those required by pharmaceutical drugs -- despite extensive toxicological data showing supplements are far safer than drugs.
The most recent data comes from the U.S. National Poison Data System's annual report, which tracked data from 57 U.S. poison centers and showed vitamin and mineral supplements caused zero deaths in 2010.i
As noted by Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, Americans easily take more than 60 billion doses of nutritional supplements every year, and with zero related deaths this is an outstanding safety record:
"Well over half of the U.S. population takes daily nutritional supplements. Even if each of those people took only one single tablet daily, that makes 165,000,000 individual doses per day, for a total of over 60 billion doses annually. Since many persons take far more than just one single vitamin or mineral tablet, actual consumption is considerably higher, and the safety of nutritional supplements is all the more remarkable.
Over 60 billion doses of vitamin and mineral supplements per year in the USA, and not a single fatality. Not one. If vitamin and mineral supplements are allegedly so "dangerous," as the FDA and news media so often claim, then where are the bodies?"
Do you think that they should at least run tests on quantity of active constituents of supplements at the least? And perhaps, do toxic screens to measure junk like heavy metals, known toxins, pesticides, and junk?
Is buying supplements with an independent lab profile analysis an efficate way of determining quality?
Controlled doses at pre-determined levels as per FDA's approval is the end game? Perhaps the body count could be higher per their control, enticing them into action.
The only thing that needs tightening up is the quality and content of some supplements. Ironically, many are pharmaceutical grade.
The products that tend to be of inferior quality are usually owned directly or indirectly by Big Pharma themselves.
How many supplement companies/manufacturers would stay in business if their products are of inferior quality, and didn't actually do as it says on the tin?
Not many I suspect.
Chrisb1.
Chris, I've got to agree that quality and content assurance guarantees are important, but reading labels about the origin of a supplement tends to influence a purchase. Many of the products come out of NJ, but that's not proof that the supplements are inferior or of poor quality. However, when most stuff comes from a single place, the diversity aspect tends to disappear. It simply raises a red flag for me and I tend to not buy from a major capital of production due to the high probability of it being a corporate entity that values bottom line over quality. It's interesting how Big Pharma produces supplements too. Recent legilative action shows that they are trying to death grip that industry as well.
Thank you uchihaMadara,
there is a link that someone posted within curezone where supplements have been tested for quality and impurities.
This is one of them, but you have to pay/subscribe to access the information............ http://www.consumerlab.com/
............but I recall another member posting on consumerlabs' unreliability and inaccuracy in testing; whether there is any truth in this I am not sure. Anyone know?
While there's value to consumer lab, if they advertise the very things that they are supposed to technically police, then there's a conflict of interest. However, if consumer lab does find products are not up to quality, then we need to follow up with other tests for quality assurance. I'd ask consumer lab who they contract with to do the testing, else not trust their words if they hide such information. In California, they require that supplements generally must provide a warning post 1 mcg or .5 mcg of lead, depending on product. Consumer lab found more lead than 1mcg, but there's no real police to force a producer to list a warning. Now, is 5 mcg of lead in a product like Calcium, or multimineral, really a big concern? Will the high mineral content dilute lead and compete for absorption? If so, what is the mean absorption of lead at 5 mcg?
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