The dietary supplement companies have been warned to mandatorily present the product listing for dietary supplements. They are required to list down their retail products in an FDA-operated database. This step was taken as a part of the 2020 budget request, which is a proposal made for the compulsory dietary supplement product listing. Among the dietary supplement associations, the view over a product listing remains miscellaneous. The benefits of a mandatory listing were well-spoken by FDA speaker Lowell Schiller at the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s 2019 The Conference in Carlsbad.
If there is no mandatory product listing then some of the basic information about dietary supplements is missed on. The contents or the number of dietary supplements that are going to hit the market are unknown. In case a specific ingredient or product is considered unsafe, there is no means to identify the affected product. The visibility to bifurcate the necessary resources, to capture trends, and adapt to the risks are minimalistic. The mandatory product listing could be the solution to all this.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition has shown its supports by creating a product listing named Supplement OWL for industrial use. There are many who are against FDA-mandated listing as disclosing the details about the supplement could put the company at risk of increased study and regulatory enforcement. The distrust and animosity over the regulators would be of the past. The American Herbal Products Association has openly declared its disinterest in FDA-mandated product listing as the dietary supplements have details that already help the FDA police the market. There need for the listing is not necessary as the FDA already has the power to request the same kind of data. The companies fear that if the details are provided in the mandatory listing database there are high possibilities that the FDA could use it to make enforcements and target the specific companies dealing with the concerned matter.
Similarly, the drug registration and listing staff had hosted a workshop to help industries with creating complete and accurate registration and listing submissions. FDA’s latest process for inactivation of uncertified listings will help reduce the errors and mistakes observed with submissions. The “Electronic Drug Registration and Listing Using CDER Direct Agenda” is the resource provided by FDA for the companies to register their products.