Which organization is responsible for the oversight of dietary supplements in the United States?

The organization responsible for the oversight of dietary supplements in the United States is the FDA, or the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is primarily tasked with ensuring the safety and efficacy of food, drugs, and other related products, which includes dietary supplements.

Dietary supplements are classified as food products rather than drugs, and they are generally regulated under a different set of guidelines than pharmaceuticals. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994 notably defined a dietary supplement and established branding and labeling requirements, as well as health claims that supplement manufacturers can make.

The FDA's role involves monitoring the safety of dietary supplements, ensuring that they are manufactured according to certain standards, and that any claims made by manufacturers are not misleading. This oversight helps protect consumers from unsafe or ineffective products, allowing for a regulatory framework that emphasizes both market access for supplement manufacturers and safety for consumers.

Other organizations such as the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), NIH (National Institutes of Health), and WHO (World Health Organization) have important health-related roles, but they do not have primary oversight of dietary supplements in the context of U.S. regulation. The CDC focuses primarily on public health issues and disease prevention, the NIH conducts medical research