Congress Blames Dr. Oz....

Congress is giving Dr Oz a beat down because the products he endorses are not scientifically proven. 

Let me explain what the real issue is.

Normally when you walk into a store the products on the shelf are assumed to be tested by the government and

A) proven to be safe.
B) Proven to do what they are supposed to do.

Unfortunately when it comes to supplements this is 100% false.

In 1994 Congress and President William Jefferson Clinton deregulated the supplement market through the “Dietary Supplement and Health and Education Act of 1994.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_Education_Act_of_1994

The industry cheered.

This deregulation meant supplements no longer came under the jurisdiction of the FDA. Companies could market and sell supplements without any proof they are safe or effective. All the proof would be sorted out once you fed their product to your family. Maybe they would help you lose weight……Or maybe they would help you grow a third arm. Nobody really knew….. and nobody really cared.

Companies like GNC exploded selling all kinds of concocted nonsense. Most of it comes right out of the filthy factories of Communist Red China.

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2003732744_vitamins03.html

Is it safe? (shrug). Is it legal? (Shrug.)

How many times have we heard athletes complain they took a supplement and then got in trouble because they didn’t know what they were taking. A lot of times they are telling the truth. They really don’t know what they are taking. Nobody does. Places like GNC are the Wild Wild West. That is exactly what they wanted it to be too.

It is a $32,000,000,000.00 industry selling this crap so nobody spends a lot of time caring. The industry gets to make all kinds of baseless promises (and assertions) and you get to eat it all up (literally). It is a great deal for them.

Time will tell if it is a great deal for you.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidlariviere/2013/04/18/nutritional-supplements-flexing-their-muscles-as-growth-industry/

Meanwhile Congress can keep blaming Dr. Oz, and pretending they didn’t create the problem in the first place. President Clinton doesn’t spend a lot of time reminding everyone what a great job he did deregulating the industry either. He would just prefer that little fact get lost to history.

Congress should spend a little more time Regulating the supplement market, and a little less time creating 30 second sound bites for the evening news.