SANTIAGO, Chile—The International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) hosted a conference in Santiago, Chile, on Oct. 29 that attracted regulators, academics and industry members to discuss food supplement regulation in Latin America. IADSA’s Latin American Conference coincided with the meeting of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses.
Government officials from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, the European Union, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela were on hand for the IADSA event, which looked at the impact on future regulatory trends on companies and markets. Speakers presented and debated key regulatory developments in different countries; agenda topics included the definition of food supplements, criteria for setting maximum levels of vitamins and minerals; and the regulation and substantiation of nutrition and health claims.
"We're delighted to be able to continue IADSA's role of providing greater communication and solutions on both the regulation and the science behind food supplements," said Peter Zambetti, chair of IADSA. "The conference demonstrated that while there continues to be many different approaches to regulating dietary supplements, the principles that form the basis of these are increasingly consistent throughout the world. IADSA will build on this Latin American conference with increased dialogue to encourage further detailed discussions at national level towards achieving the best regulatory frameworks."
David Pineda, director of regulatory affairs for Brussels, Belgium-based IADSA, added: "Latin America is a highly complex region in terms of food supplement regulation and many significant challenges exist for marketing products. IADSA is committed to helping support local associations through the exchange of information and provision of solutions to create balanced regulation across the region."
During the conference, IADSA also released its latest scientific report, “The Scientific Substantiation of Health Claims," which reviews ongoing recent developments and initiatives on the scientific substantiation of health claims around the world, such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission guidelines as well as developments in the European Union, the USA, China, Japan, the ASEAN countries and Latin America. It provides a snapshot of recent developments for methodologies, for the assessment of the totality of the available data and for the development of a scientific framework for weighing the strength, consistency and biological plausibility of the evidence.
