Creation of New Government Entities

Appointed in 1995, the Commission on Dietary Supplements directs the labeling of dietary supplements, essentially to determine how to provide scientifically valid information about them. The first commission comprised scientists from various U.S. universities with expertise in dietary supplements, a member of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a Seton Hall University School of Law professor, a public relations specialist, and a representative from the Herb Research Foundation.
Responsibilities carried out by the Commission on Dietary Supplements are now being performed by the Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements' Division of Dietary Supplement Programs, which comprises a regulations and review team, a compliance and enforcement team, and a clinical review team. Led by Dr. Susan Walker, the division creates policies, regulations, and guidance documents to ensure the safe manufacture and labeling of dietary supplements and reviews safety information submitted by dietary supplement manufacturers 75 days before the marketing of a product to ensure that it is reasonably expected to be safe.
The DSHEA also called for the creation of the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), which is housed within the National Institutes of Health and is responsible for facilitating
research into the role of dietary supplements in disease prevention and health promotion. The mission of ODS is to strengthen knowledge about dietary supplements by evaluating available research and stimulating and supporting more scientific trials, as well as by educating people about the current state of knowledge. As part of their mission, ODS hosted the 2000 National Nutrition Summit and created numerous resources, including Computer Access to Research on Dietary Supplements, International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements, Annual Bibliographies of Significant Advances in Dietary Supplement Research, and Dietary Supplement Ingredient and Labeling databases (see Appendix D). The ODS's 2004-2009 strategic plan comprises five major goals: (1) expanding the evaluation of dietary supplements in reducing the risk for chronic disease; (2) fostering research on dietary supplements for optimal health and performance; (3) enhancing understanding of the basic effects of dietary supplements on biological systems; (4) improving methodologies; and (5) expanding outreach and education.