Silver Spring, MD—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in a constituent update that theBotanical Safety Consortium(BSC) has formally been convened. Calling it a "milestone," FDA said the BSC is the result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)that  between the FDA, the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI), which will serve as the convener and facilitator for the BSC.
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FDA explained that the BSC is part of the agency's latest efforts to "strengthen regulation of dietary supplements through modernization and reform." BSC's mission: "To provide a forum for scientists from government, academia, consumer health groups, industry, and non-profit organizations to work collaboratively to generate a sound scientific basis for integrating existing safety data and the latest toxicology tools to evaluate botanical safety in dietary supplements."

With the execution of the MOU, FDA announced, specific guidelines for membership and participation in the BSC will be established by early 2020. Those interested in additional information about the BSC, including details on how how to join, are advised to contact HESI at botanicalsafety@hesiglobal.org. And in the coming months, more information will be available onwww.botanicalsafetyconsortium.org.
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