fw: Don't Let Congress Overturn Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act

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ALERT

TAKE ACTION

NOW!

Please Phone, mail or email your Senator today.

Click on this link:

http://capwiz.com/nnfa/issues/alert/?alertid=2103491 & type=CO

Then scroll all the way down and fill out your name and address.

Your letter will be emailed to your Senator.

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Don't Let Congress Overturn the Hard-Fought Victory of the

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994

A new bill called the " Dietary Supplement Safety " Act

(S.722) has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. Despite its

title, it would allow no more consumer protection than

current law – the Dietary Supplement Health and Education

Act (DSHEA) – provides. It would, however, significantly

undermine many of the freedoms that American consumers of

dietary supplements hold dear. Click here to view S.722.

Oppose this Legislation!

The Food and Drug Administration must not be granted new and

unprecedented authority to subject safe and beneficial

products to additional and unnecessary scrutiny. This bill

would subject nearly all vitamins, minerals, herbal products

and other supplements to a level of scrutiny that is both

unwarranted and unnecessary. Products that have been used

safely for hundreds – and in some cases, thousands – of

years would be subject to clinical evaluation using

standards that are at the complete discretion of the FDA.

The government must not be allowed to limit the freedom of

choice of American consumers when it comes to their health.

By questioning the safety of any dietary supplement that

receives even one complaint, hundreds of products that have

been safely and beneficially used could be removed from the

marketplace. Under this new legislation, the FDA has

complete discretion to make this determination, regardless

of whether the product was used under conditions cautioned

against by the manufacturer on the label.

The government must not be allowed to single-out dietary

supplements. By almost every measure, and by a wide margin,

dietary supplements can be used more safely than

conventional foods and OTC drugs. Yet this legislation

exempts foods in these product categories from being

classified as stimulants. Specifically, the bill unfairly

excludes the most common " stimulant " ingredient in foods –

caffeine.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

This bill could be added to existing Senate legislation at

any time. We need you to take two vital steps to immediately

let your Senators know you oppose this bill.

Call your Senators now.To reach your Senators' offices, call

them either through the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202)

224-3121 or directly at their Washington, D.C. or local

offices. To find contact information for your elected

officials, simply click on the Elected Officials link above.

When you reach your Senator's office, ask to speak with the

staff member in charge of health-related issues and give

them this simple message:

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose any efforts by

your fellow Senators to pass S. 722, the so-called Dietary

Supplement " Safety " Act, recently introduced by Senator

Durbin. I am deeply concerned that rather than

passing this new act - which would unnecessarily expand the

authority of the Food and Drug Administration - Congress

should instead investigate and oversee ways in which the

Food and Drug Administration can make full use of its

current and more-than-adequate authority as granted by the

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.

E-mail your Senators now. Simply enter your ZIP code in the

" Take Action Now " button above to locate your senators and

representatives, make any changes you feel necessary to the

sample letter, and click " submit. " A copy of your letter

will be sent to the two U.S. Senators from your state. A

copy of the letter will also be sent to you confirming which

Senators received the letter.

Don't delay – this bill has the potential to radically amend

one of this country’s most important and beneficial laws,

the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.