Dietary supplements can be important contributors to the total dietary intake of nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and other bioactive ingredients commonly found in foods. The product category, at least in the United States, also includes ingredients, such as herbs and other botanicals, that are not part of a usual diet. Dietary supplements, mostly vitamins and minerals in various combinations, are widely consumed by the public. The regulation of these products can be challenging. There are some important scientific issues that continue to need addressing - quality, safety, and efficacy - through the application of state-of-the-art research methods.
To open this webinar, Dr. Paul Coates gave an overview of supplement science and discussed how at the end of the day, scientific results need to be translated to useful information for the consuming public, for public health policymakers, and healthcare professionals. The Office of Dietary Supplements at the US National Institutes of Health is a major resource for the conduct and support of this science and for communicating it to the broader community.
Dr. Cynthia Rider then discussed how botanical dietary supplements pose a public health challenge based on multiple factors, including widespread use at relatively high doses by populations with different susceptibilities, inherent chemical complexity, variable quality, and deficiencies in safety data. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) has a significant botanical testing portfolio and has generated in vitro and in vivo toxicity data on botanical ingredients such as black cohosh, Ginkgo biloba extract, and green tea extract. Recent NTP efforts have focused on applying the latest tools in chemistry and molecular biology to move toward more predictive toxicological evaluation of botanicals. These efforts include developing methods for comparing across complex botanicals to determine sufficient similarity and participation in the Botanical Safety Consortium - a public private partnership aimed at developing a framework to evaluate botanical safety using in vitro and in silico approaches.
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