Fact check: False claims about the FDA's authority over dietary supplements circulate online

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The claim: The Senate is requiring all dietary supplements to be regulated and approved by the FDA

In April, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., introduced "the Dietary Supplement Listing Act of 2022", which would require dietary supplement makers to list their products with the Food and Drug Administration. Social media users are now misinterpreting the bill's effects on the FDA's authority.

"BREAKING: Senate is requiring all dietary supplements to be regulated and approved by the FDA," read an Oct. 26 Instagram post. "As of right now herbal medicine is a supplement they are trying to ban herbs."

The post garnered more than 800 likes in two days. Similar iterations have been shared on Instagram.

The claim is false. The bill does not increase the FDA's authority over dietary supplements. It increases the transparency about the supplements' manufacturing.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment.

Bill doesn't increase FDA's authority over dietary supplements

The bill's purpose is to increase the transparency and availability of information about dietary supplements, according to the bill's text. It would create an electronic database for consumers nationwide, listing information like ingredients, serving sizes and safety warnings.

Zacharie Riddle, a spokesperson for Braun, told USA TODAY in an email that the claim is false. Riddle referenced a fact sheet published by Braun's office, which specifies how the measure would merely grant the FDA the authority to create and maintain the electronic database.

The bill would not "grant the Agency new authority to administratively remove dietary supplements (or ingredients) from the marketplace," according to the fact sheet.

Fact check: False claim that FDA said vaccines are linked to heart attacks, deaths

An amended version of the bill, which was temporarily included and then removed from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee’s proposed FDA User Fee package, added language to say something similar.

"Nothing in this section shall be construed... to grant the Secretary authority to require the approval of a dietary supplement prior to marketing," reads the modified version of the bill.

The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, amended in 1994, allows the FDA to inspect the quality of dietary supplements and monitor adverse reaction reports. It does not allow the FDA to approve supplements before they're placed on the market. The act is current law.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that the Senate is requiring all dietary supplements to be regulated and approved by the FDA. The bill does not increase the FDA's authority over dietary supplements. It increases the transparency about the supplements' manufacturing.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No, FDA won't be approving dietary supplements