What are food supplements?  They are foods that make vague health claims.  They exist in a no-mans land between the regulations of  the USDA and the FDA.  (look up the acronyms yourself)  Consumer Reports says that food supplements aren’t regulated enough and cites some cases of people being hurt by taking them.  I say if people want to take Ginko Baloba or Glucosomine or Condritin let them.

Why should the Nanny State be trying to save people from acting irresponsibly.  The obligation of the government should be to make sure that the products are correctly labeled.  That they list their ingredients and perhaps that they say that they are not subject to the FDA or the USDA regulations.  Then let the buyer beware.

If food supplement manufacturers want to create a UL Labs like organization they can but the government doesn’t need to be involved.  Leave us alone.

On another related issue I seems that Consumer Union (the publishers of Consumer Reports) has never seen anything that in their opinion didn’t need more government control.  In many ways they are an enabler of the Nanny State.