Office of Dietary Supplements

The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) is the part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) that leads the federal government's scientific work on dietary supplements. It publishes fact sheets on vitamins, minerals, herbs and other supplement ingredients, written for health professionals and for consumers. The sheets describe recommended amounts, health effects, safety and interactions with medicines, and ODS names them as a good place to start for free, accurate information on a supplement ingredient.

Mission

About half of all adults in the United States take dietary supplements, and they spend almost $60 billion a year on them. ODS describes its task as providing up-to-date scientific information about these products. Its mission is to coordinate dietary supplement research across the NIH institutes, centres and offices and other federal agencies, to build knowledge and improve health at every stage of life.

Organisation and history

The U.S. Congress established ODS through the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA, Public Law 103-417), and the office was created in 1995. It sits in the NIH Office of the Director, in the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, in Bethesda, Maryland. Its scientific staff work in analytical chemistry, pharmacognosy, biochemistry, epidemiology, clinical nutrition, dietetics and health communication.

Fact sheets

The ODS collection of fact sheets also includes resources from other federal government sources. It covers vitamins, minerals, herbs and other botanicals, probiotics and other ingredients, for example vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and lavender. Further sheets deal with supplements for particular purposes or situations, such as pregnancy, menopause, weight loss, and exercise and athletic performance.

Many sheets come in three versions: a detailed one for health professionals and an easy-to-read consumer version in English and in Spanish. For basic information on individual herbs, ODS also points to the "Herbs at a Glance" fact sheets of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), another part of the NIH.

Advice to readers

ODS advises people not to diagnose themselves. They should talk to a health care provider before starting a supplement, especially if they take medicines or other supplements or have a health condition. Supplements are not intended to treat, diagnose, prevent or cure disease, and they should not replace prescribed medicines or a varied diet. For published scientific studies on a supplement ingredient, ODS refers readers to PubMed, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Supplement regulation

The work of ODS is scientific research and information. In the United States, dietary supplements are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unlike drugs, supplements need no studies in people proving their safety before they go on sale. Manufacturers and distributors are responsible for making sure that their products are safe and that their label claims are truthful and not misleading. The FDA can act only once a product is on the market, for example by issuing a warning or requiring the product to be removed from sale.

A manufacturer also does not have to prove that a supplement works. If the label makes a claim, it must carry the statement that the FDA has not evaluated the claim and that the product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Illness or injury linked to a supplement is reported to the FDA, and misleading advertising or fraud to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).