A nutritional supplement can come in many forms and varieties and include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, some steroids, the pineal hormone melatonin as well as herbal supplements. They are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which means the supplement manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that a dietary supplement is safe before it is marketed. The FDA is responsible for taking action against unsafe nutritional supplements after they reach the market. The Food and Drug Administration regulates dietary supplements as foods, and not as drugs, 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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