Industry experts discuss future of DSHEA at SupplySide West

Every supplement trade group has its own wish list about modernization and/or enforcement of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA).

On Oct. 29, at a SupplySide West education and networking event (“After 30 years of DSHEA, the question is: What now?”), a panel of representatives from six trade organizations discussed challenges facing the industry and opportunities to move the industry forward in a positive light.

They agreed some of the challenges facing today’s industry are on a different scale than the creators of DSHEA ever imagined. But to face them, the industry needs to take a page from what worked back in 1994. That means setting aside competition, embracing collaboration, and building engagement from the bottom of the industry up.

State-level opposition to supplements on the rise

On Monday, Oct. 28 — the first day of SupplySide West — the New Jersey General Assembly passed a bill banning unaccompanied minors from purchasing certain weight loss and muscle-building supplements. The importance of this decision, and similar bills in other states, wasn’t lost on the speakers. Duffy MacKay, SVP of dietary supplements with the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), noted the state-level opposition adds a sense of urgency to every other conversation within the industry.

Related:DSHEA turns 30: Tom Harkin discusses legislative milestone, future of supplement industry

“We may not have the passionate consumers to fight for DSHEA, but there's a growing set of passionate people that would like to fight against it,” MacKay said. “We're really good at talking to ourselves about what a good job we've done, but as soon as we step out of this vacuum, there's a whole other conversation happening that we have to be part of. And we have to be engaged in it, or else somebody else is going to write our future.”

Consensus-building starts with conversation

A consistent trend in the comments from trade organization representatives was that much of the industry-wide unity that helped pass DSHEA has faded. And major progress in updating or creating new progress needs to start by addressing siloing. 

“There's some infrastructure issues for the industry that I think we need to address before we can even get to the consensus-building,” Karen Howard, CEO and executive director of the Organic & Natural Health Association, said. “We don't sit around the table anymore and discuss on a regular basis, and that's going to kill us. That and the fact that we have a dysfunctional Congress, and we don't have lots of PAC (political action committee) money to pass around anymore.”

Related:FDA official cites complexity of marketplace after 30 years of DSHEA

FDA inspections need more firepower

Cara Welch, Ph.D., oversees FDA’s Office of Dietary Supplement Programs (ODSP). She spoke at the session about the manpower challenges facing the agency, and the difficulty in “connecting the dots” of data industry-wide. The association representatives echoed those concerns.

“This is a big problem,” Loren Israelsen, president of the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA), agreed. “Right now, they get to 4-5% of the industry a year. So that takes 20 years to get through. And that’s just the ones that are bothering to register.” Israelsen was referring to the percentage of FDA-registered manufacturers of dietary supplement products that FDA audits annually.

Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), suggested this was one place where the industry could help FDA, by utilizing the growing third-party verification market.

“Let's find a way to give FDA more information about the industry,” Mister suggested. “We're interested in looking at these really reputable third-party organizations that are doing very good audits and allowing some way for FDA to use that information to guide their inspections. If somebody has had a very positive audit three years in a row from an NSF or a USP or UL or someone like that, maybe they go to the bottom of the list, and the FDA spends its attention on the company that's never had a third-party audit in their facility.”

Supply chains: A bigger issue than DSHEA?

One big difference between 1994 and 2024 is the extent to which the supplement industry now relies upon global sourcing for ingredients. Several speakers mentioned the degree to which the Covid-19 pandemic opened their eyes to the delicacy of global supply chains, and Israelsen said that should be considered as high a priority as “modernizing” DSHEA.

“One of our problems is our success, meaning the size of industry now is such that our global supply chain is more fragile and more fragmented than it's ever been,” Israelsen said. “So now we have to be thinking in terms of the global consumer base for nutrients and all of the products that are ‘apex,’ meaning that they drive the rest of that supply chain. At the moment, I don't sense that we have any critical issues domestically, within the DSHEA environment, that require urgent action. I think that this one requires urgent action.”

Increasing membership in trade associations is a high priority

While the supplement industry has grown exponentially since DSHEA, industry participation in trade organizations hasn’t kept pace. Speakers cited multiple reasons for this decline, from the rise in isolated Amazon-only brands to the differences in how trade associations operate in China versus the U.S. But they agreed that increasing membership in all of their organizations was crucial moving forward.

“Not just at the federal level — at the state level, we've got fights everywhere,” Dan Fabricant, Ph.D., CEO and president of the Natural Products Association (NPA), pointed out. “I remember [former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin] used to say that the industry kind of has a little apathy, and people didn't participate enough after DSHEA; and I think that, unfortunately, that's still there. So it's incumbent on everyone to play a role and to advocate for being an advocate. Because if you're not at the table, you're on the menu.”

Collaboration starts with showing up

Whatever the DSHEA of the future looks like, the speakers at the session were heartened by one thing. On that particular day, six trade organizations and FDA were all on stage in dialogue with one another. Will Woodlee, outside general counsel to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), said that made him “very optimistic.”

“We're all here today, and we're speaking civilly and trying to find common ground, and we recognize that under the current conditions, there will need to be a degree of consensus from the industry to move anything forward,” Woodlee said. “We're having conversations monthly as issues arise. We're collaborating on the state level. And that's essential for the continued success of the industry for all constituencies.”