FDA Weighs Expanding What Can Go Into Supplements

Key TakeawaysFederal regulators are reviewing supplement ingredient rulesSupplement makers want to allow newer ingredientsExperts say this can cause confusion and warn about safety risks.MONDAY, March 30, 2026 (HealthDay News) — What’s in your supplements could soon change.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering whether to allow new ingredients in dietary supplements. The move could eventually expand the range of products marketed for things like muscle growth and gut health.The agency met Friday to review its current rules, which mostly limit supplements to ingredients found in food, vitamins or herbs.Supplement makers are pushing to loosen those rules so they can include newer substances, such as peptides and certain probiotics.“The industry has grown tremendously over the last 30 years yet the regulatory framework has largely stayed the same,” said FDA's top food official Kyle Diamantas.Many popular wellness products don’t really qualify today as dietary supplements under FDA regulations.Peptides, or chains of amino acids that are often marketed for muscle building or anti-aging, are just one example.They are commonly sold as injections or infusions, but some companies have started adding them to powders, capsules and gummies, The Associated Press reported.FDA lawyers say those uses violate current rules. Certain types of probiotics sold to promote gut health and aid digestion do too.Companies say the current law doesn’t clearly require all ingredients to come from food.“The hope of the meeting is that FDA is willing to open up its interpretation of what constitutes a dietary ingredient to allow dietary substances that aren’t already in food,” Robert Durkin, a former official in the FDA’s supplements program who now consults for companies, told The AP.Consumer advocates, however, say expanding these rules could make it that much harder to protect the public.“FDA should focus on making the current market safer instead of allowing more chemicals and substances in supplements,” Jensen Jose, senior regulatory counsel at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said at the meeting.The supplement market is already large and difficult to track. The FDA estimates that more than 100,000 products are available, and it does not review them for safety or effectiveness before they are sold.Instead, companies are responsible for making sure their products are safe and that their claims are true.U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has said he wants to ease restrictions on supplements and related products.He's described himself as "a big fan" of peptides and wants to see fewer limits on them.Supplements are currently treated more like food than medicine, meaning they don’t go through the same approval process as drugs. Companies also don’t have to prove their products work before selling them.They are not allowed to claim supplements treat diseases, but they can say their products support general health, as long as they include a disclaimer that the statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.A former regulator says that system leaves room for confusion.“It sanctioned unauthorized, implied health claims” Mitch Zeller, who worked on supplement issues at the FDA during the 1990s, told The Associated Press. “There are all manner of claims being made on supplement labeling or in advertising that are carefully worded to avoid making a drug or treatment claim.”More informationThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more on its dietary supplements guidance.SOURCE: The Associated Press, March 27, 2026.What This Means For YouThe ingredients in some supplements could change..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

FDA Weighs Expanding What Can Go Into Supplements

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