Under the heading “nutritional products”, you will find vitamins, amino acids, minerals, herbal supplements, some steroids and even hormones like melatonin. The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate dietary supplements and require the manufacturer ensure they are safe before they are marketed. The FDA only takes action against any unsafe nutritional supplement after it reaches the market. Dietary supplements are classified as foods, not drugs as regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so they are treated differently than prescription drugs.

Nutritional supplements are any product that is intended to supplement the diet and contain any of the following dietary ingredients:

A vitamin
A mineral
An herb or other botanical (excluding tobacco)
An amino acid
A dietary substance for use by people to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake, or
A concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of any of the above

Furthermore, it must also conform to the following criteria:

It is intended for ingestion in pill, capsule, tablet, powder or liquid form.
It is not to be represented for use as a conventional food or as the sole item of a meal or diet.
It is labeled as a dietary supplement.
While hormones are not included in the above list, some hormones are labeled as “dietary supplements”.

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