ABSTRACT
The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was signed into law on October 25, 1994. Among its many important provisions is a new legal definition for what will be considered a dietary supplement. This broad definition includes a very wide assortment of products intended to supplement the diet with a vitamin, mineral, herb/botanical, or amino acid. The DSHEA also prohibits these substances from being classified as “food additives" if they meet the legal definition of a dietary supplement. This chapter also reviews how the DSHEA addresses the use of new dietary ingredients in dietary supplements.
