Does the use of bovine-derived ingredients in dietary supplements mean that they are not safe?
No. The requirements that FDA has in place should give consumers confidence that their food, including dietary supplements, is safe. Most recently, FDA published a rule that prohibits the use in human food, including dietary supplements, of the cattle materials that have the highest risk of harboring BSE infectivity. The rule applies to both imported and domestic dietary supplements and their ingredients. Furthermore, most ingredients used to produce dietary supplements and most other food ingredients come from cattle that are slaughtered when they are less than 30-months of age and, because of their age, present little risk of being BSE-positive. It is not a common occurrence for animals younger than 30 months to develop BSE. Since the BSE-positive cow was discovered in the U.S., does that mean that dietary supplements made with domestic ingredients might be unsafe? No. The requirements that FDA has in place should give consumers confidence that their food, including dietary supplemen
No. The requirements that FDA has in place should give consumers confidence that their food, including dietary supplements, is safe. Most recently, FDA published a rule that prohibits the use in human food, including dietary supplements, of the cattle materials that have the highest risk of harboring BSE infectivity. The rule applies to both imported and domestic dietary supplements and their ingredients. Furthermore, most ingredients used to produce dietary supplements and most other food ingredients come from cattle that are slaughtered when they are less than 30-months of age and, because of their age, present little risk of being BSE-positive. It is not a common occurrence for animals younger than 30 months to develop BSE. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/bsefaq.
No. The requirements that FDA has in place should give consumers confidence that their food, including dietary supplements, is safe. Most recently, FDA published a rule that prohibits the use in human food, including dietary supplements, of the cattle materials that have the highest risk of harboring BSE infectivity. The rule applies to both imported and domestic dietary supplements and their ingredients. Furthermore, most ingredients used to produce dietary supplements and most other food ingredients come from cattle that are slaughtered when they are less than 30-months of age and, because of their age, present little risk of being BSE-positive. It is not a common occurrence for animals younger than 30 months to develop BSE.
No. The risk to human health from BSE in the United States food supply, which includes dietary supplements, is extremely low. Since 1992, FDA has advised dietary supplement manufacturers and distributors that they should take steps to ensure that no dietary supplement ingredients come from cattle born, raised or slaughtered in any country known to have BSE or that has inadequate methods to detect and control it. We have also had import procedures in place since then to prevent the importation of bulk ingredients and finished dietary supplements that contain bovine-derived ingredients from so-called BSE-countries. Also, the vast majority of cattle-derived ingredients are obtained from U.S. sources or from countries not known to have BSE.
