California State Assembly is renewing efforts to restrict access to weight management and muscle building supplements

California Assembly Bill 82, which bans the sale of weight management and muscle building supplements to minors, has been advanced by the Committee on Health and re-referred to the Committee on Judiciary. AB82 was first introduced on December 15, 2022 after Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill (AB 1341) in September of 2022.

The Natural Products Association (NPA; Washington, D.C.) is encouraging stakeholders to join its grassroots campaign and write their lawmakers in Sacramento. “The NPA has worked in good faith with the California Department of Public Health to educate them on dietary supplement safety, efficacy, and regulations,” said Daniel Fabricant, PhD, president and CEO of NPA, in a press release. “As we have seen across the country, there are legislators who ignore the realities of science to promote their agenda. As we have demonstrated repeatedly in public testimony and official correspondence to the Governor and to California public health officials, there is not a single data point connecting the use of eating disorders and dietary supplements. If there were, the FDA would be required to remove that product from the market.”

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN; Washington, D.C.) also provided testimony. "[CRN] stated that we intend to work with the Assembly to ensure that safe and legal dietary supplements are protected, and await the release of the DPH's Working Group's findings, which was initially expected at the end of 2023," explained Steve Mister, president and CEO of CRN in a statement.

Governor Newsom explained in a letter to the California State Assembly that his reason for vetoing AB1341 was that “dietary supplements for weight loss are not considered drugs…this measure would require [the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)] to evaluate every individual weight loss and dietary supplement product for safety, which is beyond the scope of the department's capabilities.”

This would be a time consuming and costly process. Therefore, Newsom directed CDPH to form a workgroup, inclusive of academics and medical experts, to develop public policy recommendations on how to address the public health challenges outlines by the assembly bill.

New York State recently passed a similar bill, which NPA has since filed a lawsuit against. Other states are also poised to introduce nearly identical bills, such as New Jersey.

Updated 1/10/2024 at 2:52 PM