Edit [Clarity] my curiosity focuses more on vitamins and nutrients that doctors confidently prescribe to patients.
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The answer is in the question really. They arent regulated like food nor medicine because they are neither.
They are modern day snake oil.
They are regulated inasmuch as they are required to be safe to consume. That is, that there is no harm in taking them. As opposed to medicines, which almost always have some at least potential side effects of varying severity. For this reason a doctor can safely prescribe supplemental nutrition knowing that no harm will come from it, while with prescribing medicine a doctor needs to balance things and be careful about it.
The companies that make them have lobbied the Congress for these exceptions. It makes their products cheaper to bring to market, less extensive scientific testing, and therefore less expensive.
They aren’t as well studied, and the claims are marketing rather than facts, but they are cheaper.
Some things, like vitamin C or D, have been around for ages and are pretty well studied. If your doctor does a blood test and your Vitamin D level is low, they can pretty confidently tell you to take some capsules. Sure, they could tell you to spend more time outside in short sleeves, but if it’s snowing you’re not as likely to do that as take a pill. Doctors want a result, and sometimes the easy path is what they recommend.
When you see some supplement saying that its Vitamin C and zinc will prevent viruses from the common cold to COVID, that’s just ordinary BS marketing. Nothing troubling, as long as you take it with a grain of sale.
Food isn’t regulated any more or less than vitamins. Truth in labeling applies and that’s about it. You can buy as much as you want as often as you want. Regulated drugs, however, are actually regulated based on a doctor’s written prescription.
The reason for this is the same reason over-the-counter drugs aren’t regulated, except for the small handful that can be used to make meth. The potential risks are a lot lower. You can still abuse food, vitamins, and over-the-counter drugs, it’s just not as easy. This country does still have some lingering examples of personal responsibility and liberty.
I would be interested to get a prescribers opinion/experience shared on this as well…
Medical scientist here:
In very basic terms, a supplement is a thing. A medicine is a thing *that does something.*
Supplements/foods, since they are things, only have to prove that they are the thing they claim to be. USDA has regs for food purity and accuracy. Supplements are a way to add extra (supplemental) thing to your diet, and just has to be what it says it is.
Sketchy supplements are not necessarily what they say they are, and that’s bad/illegal. There is an optional certification that a supplement can have by US Pharmacopeia (USP), which certifies that a supplement is what it claims to be.
Once a supplement claims to do something (treat a disease or provide a benefit), it is in violation of the law unless it has FDA authorization to make that claim. A sketchy way around this is to make the claim and add an asterisk saying that the claim hasn’t been approved by FDA. In any case, if it can prove that it does something, then it’s technically a medicine and should be regulated as such.
Food isn’t regulated that well either.
The reason why I say this, look into what mcdonald’s and burger King do. Their food is literally just coated in salt, gives massive high blood pressure and causes heart disease because of the high sodium content.
Most fast food, hell I’ll go as far as saying, almost all chains are guilty if using extremely unhealthy ingredients and chemicals with the intention of making their food addicting and more addicting.
Many of those same places, also turn healthy drinks into deserts. Ever made a smoothie at home? It’s just fruit, milk, and ice thrown In a blender for a few minutes. Very easy to make (I usually use 2 bananas, 3 strawberries, 5 ice cubs and some. Milk). And it’s naturally sweet. Well mcdonald’s takes it on themselves to ADD SUGAR, there’s no reason for it and you csnt taste it. It’s to make it more addicting. That’s why.
In fact, most hamburgers(or fried food too), fro. Fast food places, actually have more sodium content then the average person should be eating in a day.
Stay as far away from these places.
Wait, you mentioned many now have salads. Well I got bad news for you, they put all the sugar in the dressing. And use powder sugar in the process of making the salad. So you don’t see it, but you can taste it. More addicting means you come back.
ITS NOT HEALTHY AND SHOULDN’T BE LEGAL
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