Nutritional Health Alliance v. Shalala

OPINION AND ORDER

OWEN, District Judge.

Americans spend approximately $3.5 billion a year on vitamins and other dietary supplements, with more than 120 million people taking them regularly. Under the current federal regulatory scheme, retailers and manufacturers are prohibited from making any “health claim” 1 or “disease claim” on the labels of these vitamins -unless there is a Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) determination that there is “significant scientific agreement” that the claim is valid. Until the mid-1980’s there were virtually no health claims on labels because an even stricter…