WASHINGTON--Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, will conduct a hearing regarding dietary supplements on July 25. The committee will be looking at past dietary supplement regulations and current scientific research during "Diet, Physical Activity and Dietary Supplements--The Scientific Basis for Improving Health, Saving Money and Preserving Personal Choice."
The committee's roster of witnesses includes actress Diane Ladd; David Seckman, executive director of the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA); David Heber, director of the division of clinical nutrition at UCLA; and Paul Coates from the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Beth Crane, the committee's deputy communications director, stated that following the hearing, the committee will send its recommendations to Health and Human Services (HHS), and from there HHS will take what it wants from the report.
Given recent press on ephedra, can the industry expect discussion on this herb at the hearing? Although the meeting is currently focused on dietary supplements as a whole and not ephedra, "... you can't have a supplement hearing without discussing ephedra," Crane said.
The following week, on July 31, a hearing that will definitely involve ephedra will be held by the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia. The meeting will also be covering dietary supplements, but the focus will be on weight-loss supplements. The committee is chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who in mid-June requested a report on the subject from the General Accounting Office (GAO).
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