Get Ready for the Vitamin Police

I'm no fan of the FDA, but one thing they *do* need to be more involved in is the assurance of quality of nutritional and nutraceutical supplements. At present, there is absolutely no assurance that the ginseng, gingko, horse chestnut, or any other of the myriad herbals available on the market are even half the strength of what the manufacturer says they are. Getting some accuracy on the labels would be a very welcome thing for all of us, and you can bet your bottom dollar that left to the manufacturers, that ain't gonna happen.
Oh yeah, while they're at it, cleaning up the Food Facts labels (which allow for up to a 15% margin of error) would be good to do.
Jake
 
"Perhaps a disclaimer is in order here: We should all use informed and discriminating judgment before gulping down a tonic that claims effortless weight loss—while turning us into Don Juans who will live forever. But we should not be less cautious if the bottle bears an FDA seal of approval.

If some consumers recklessly disregard such caution, no Federal agency can help them. But this is America. If consumer health is destroyed by the willful malfeasance of a vitamin manufacturer, whole armies of trial lawyers stand ready to help put those firms out of business."
 
I agree, government is not very effective at protecting us from ourselves, which is why they should abolish the FDA so that private citizens can establish a much more effective means of controlling quality such as what the UL is to electronics or what the BBB and the other multitude of consumer reporting websites are to business.
 
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