Senate S.3217

Breaking News! The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173), just adopted by the House of Representatives (and sent to the Senate as S.3217) includes language giving more power to the Federal Trade Commission to make general rules for interstate commerce that could be used to restrict truthful information about dietary supplements, by requiring expensive, "drug company" level clinical trials before vitamin companies could make claims about their products. This "reform" could hand-over the natural products industry to Big Pharma, which, over the past few years, has bought up most of the larger vitamin companies. The new rules could become a "barrier against entry" driving many smaller companies out of business.

We address this issue in a new Action Item telling the Senate to provide protective language for natural products which do not need the same level of substantiation (called "significant scientific agreement") that drugs should require for public safety. The existing commercial standard of "competent and reliable scientific evidence" allows natural product marketers to rely on published literature and small-scale clinical studies appropriate for food products. As we have been warning, the attacks on Natural Solutions will continue and will escalate. BUT, YOUR CONTINUED PUSH BACK WILL PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO ACCESS NATURAL SOLUTIONS!