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Audio from the Press Conference
CONSUMERS UNION PUBLIC POLICY RESOURCES
REGARDING SPORTS SUPPLEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS
Consumers Union (CU) strongly supports a bill in the California Legislature (SB 397) that prohibits the sale or distribution of any dietary supplement product containing ephedrine unless it meets specified labeling requirements, including:
a) A statement of the milligrams of concentrated ephedrine group alkaloids per serving in the form of herbal extracts.
b) Use of standardized nomenclature for the active ingredients in the product so that the term "ephedrine" is used instead of, or in addition to, the botanical names for the product.
c) A statement of the amount of milligrams of caffeine alkaloids and other ingredients per serving that have a known stimulant effect.
d) A warning regarding the consumption of ephedrine that is conspicuously displayed on the label.
e) The label shall include a toll-free telephone number for the California Department of Health Services, in order to permit customers to report adverse effects to the state; the state shall compile and permanently maintain all reports of adverse effects. Dietary supplement manufacturers and distributors shall forward to the Department any adverse effect reports relating to California consumers that they receive within six months of the receipt of the report. The bill also puts restrictions on the claims that can be made by advertisers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers regarding ephedrine group alkaloids. Finally, the bill imposes requirements on retailers who sell these products with respect to limiting direct access by walk-in customers.
Support for this legislation is based on CU's belief that consumers have the right to know about the ingredients in, and the risks associated with, any products sold for human consumption, and that the Food and Drug Administration's limited regulation of herbal supplements containing ephedra fails to adequately protect the public.
For more information or interviews on efforts to regulate sports supplements in California, contact the Consumers Union West Coast Regional Office in San Francisco:
Elisa Odabashian, Senior Policy
Analyst
(415) 431-6747, ext. 114
odabel@consumer.org
Michael McCauley, Media Director
(415) 431-6747, ext. 126
mccami@consumer.org
For more information or interviews on efforts to regulate sports supplements
in Texas, contact the Consumers Union Southwest
Regional Office in Austin:
Reggie James, Director Rafael Ayuso, Media Director
(512) 477-4431, ext. 118 (512) 477-4431, ext. 114
jamere@consumer.org ayusra@consumer.org
Lisa McGiffert, Senior Policy Analyst
(512) 477-4431, ext. 115
mcgili@consumer.org
May 14, 2001
