Defining Dietary Supplement

<p>Before the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) was enacted 20 years ago, the U.S. supplement industry was homeless. It didn&rsquo;t have legal footing in the market, and companies selling ingredients to bolster dietary intake could rarely defend itself if FDA determined their products were food additives without GRAS (generally recognized as safe) designation. The definition of dietary supplement as outlined in DSHEA is complex, but it gave the product category firm standing to thrive in the U.S. market. </p>