NEW YORK-Almost 60 percent of Americans take dietary supplements on a regular basis, and 95 percent of supplement users are satisfied with the products they use. These results of a recent Harris Interactive Poll were revealed during the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance's (DSEA) press conference launch this morning. Members of the mainstream media, including Consumer Reports and Sports Illustrated attended the event to learn about the industry coalition.
"As more and more Americans are taking an active role in maintaining and improving their health, they need good, reliable information about the health benefits and responsible use of dietary supplements," Harkin told the assembled reporters. He added that when the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was passed in 1994, it was the intent of Congress that consumers be educated about responsible use of dietary supplements. Other speakers included Elliott Balbert, president of Natrol and the acting chairman of DSEA, Maryellen Molyneaux, with the Natural Marketing Institute, and David Heber, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
Heber is a member of DSEA's Scientific Advisory Board. Other members include Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., Associate Director/Senior Scientist and Chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, and Barbara Levine, Ph.D., R.D., the Director of the Human Nutrition Program at The Rockefeller University, and the Director of the Nutrition Information Center at Weill Medical College of Cornell University-New York Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
The Scientific Advisory Board is one part of DSEA's Information Bureau; it is complemented by the Web site (www.supplementinfo.org), designed to provide science-based facts about dietary supplements for both consumers and the media. The site was developed in partnership with Intramedicine, a web-based research and information company specializing in compiling scientifically validated research on integrative medicine, and provide unrestricted access to more than 180 scientific monographs on vitamins, minerals, herbs and nutraceuticals, all of which are peer-reviewed and updated as new scientific data becomes available.