The push to restrict access to supplements has succeeded in New York state, despite opposition and efforts to oppose the bill from the natural products industry. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed A.5610/S.5823 into law. This law will ban the sale of weight loss and sports nutrition dietary supplements to New York consumers under the age of 18. The law will likely take effect in April 2024.
As the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) explained, the law can be applied to any dietary supplement that is “labeled, marketed, or otherwise represented for the purpose of achieving weight loss or muscle building.” It specifically mentions creatine, green tea extract, raspberry ketone, garcinia cambogia, and green coffee bean extract. The Natural Products Association (NPA) reported that, in certain situations, the law would require a prescription to access such products, and failure to comply would result in fines for each infraction. NPA also noted that Governor Huchul vetoed a similar bill last December, expressing concerns that the state’s health department lacked the critical expertise needed to evaluate ingredients used across various dietary supplement products.
How we got here
As Susan J. Hewlings, Ph.D., RD, and Douglas S. Kalman, Ph.D., RD, have explained to WholeFoods Magazine readers, dietary supplements are under attack from the Harvard-based organization STRIPED (Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders). "This group claims that dietary supplements, especially those that they refer to as diet pills, cause eating disorders," Drs. Hewlings and Kalman explained. "Part of their efforts have been to propose age restricted legislation in various states, including New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, California, Colorado, Missouri, Maryland, and Massachusetts, some of which have come close to passing. While the details of the proposed legislation vary from state to state, the main objective of all of them is to limit access of teens to specific dietary supplements that they refer to as 'weight loss' or 'diet' supplements. These include protein, creatine, branched chain amino acids, and diet pills, which are not clearly defined. The research they reference to support their platform is full of scientific holes, which are discussed in a recent review published in Nutrients.
Natural Products Leaders React to Age-Restriction Law
Steve Mister, President and CEO, CRN: “This will impact a huge swath of products sitting on grocery store, pharmacy and natural retailer shelves throughout New York State. Because of this blatant, alarmist misinformation pushed by STRIPED, Empire State consumers of all ages will have their ability to purchase dietary supplement products limited. It’s a sad day for consumer choice and scientific accuracy, and our membership needs to understand just what a severe threat STRIPED poses to our industry.”
Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., President and CEO, NPA: "It’s disingenuous and flat-out wrong to suggest the use of dietary supplements causes eating disorders, and FDA data proves it. The dietary supplement industry has an extensive history of providing consumers with well-researched, trusted products as evidenced by the 80% of Americans who use at least one dietary supplement as a safe and affordable way to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Governor Hochul’s decision to prohibit access to safe and reliable dietary supplements like amino acids, creatine and other essential nutrients is fundamentally flawed and only hurts consumers.”
Industry to Take Action
Speaking at SupplySide West, Dr. Fabricant alerted industry members to the development, and stressed the need to take action. In a press release, NPA said that it will seek to overturn the law in court.
(This is a developing story. More industry reactions and next steps will be added as additional details become available.)
