Citizens for Health Supports KeepSupplementsClean Website on Tainted Supplements

Nonprofit, natural health consumer group Citizens for Health has announced its support for www.KeepSupplementsClean.org, a website launched by industry group the American Herbal Products Association (Herbal Spring, MD) to share information on illegal, tainted dietary supplements, such as those containing undeclared drugs, drug analogs, or steroids.

As Nutritional Outlook wrote about www.KeepSupplementsClean.org in August 2011, “The website identifies product categories most susceptible to adulteration and includes a list of all related enforcement actions and recalls, which AHPA says will be kept updated. Besides information for the trade, the website will also include information for consumers on adulteration.”

A press release by Citizens for Health states that, “Although we do not always see eye-to-eye with FDA on where the exact boundary for allowable dietary ingredients lies, we agree with the agency that neither pharmaceutical drugs nor steroids are allowed in lawfully marketed supplement products.”

The group urges consumers to visit www.KeepSupplementsClean.org to learn how to avoid tainted products. “If you are a consumer of health-promoting dietary supplements, especially those in the product areas most likely to be contaminated with undeclared ingredients (e.g., weight loss, bodybuilding, or sexual enhancement), you can protect yourself from inadvertently consuming a hidden drug or steroid by staying informed through the AHPA’s www.KeepSupplementsClean.org,” it states.