Who checks the quality and safety of dietary supplements?
According to German law, dietary supplements are regarded as food products, not drugs. Drugs are pharmacologically active substances that have a particular effect on the body and its functions. They are taken to relieve symptoms and illnesses, or for prevention. Dietary supplements do not have a pharmacological effect, and manufacturers aren't allowed to claim that they do – their sole purpose is to provide the body with nutrients. For this reason, they have different quality and safety requirements than chemical or herbal medicines do.
In Germany, the responsibility for the safety of dietary supplements lies with the manufacturers and retailers – as it does with all food products. All dietary supplements must be registered with the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). For dietary supplements, the authorities only record which ingredients are listed on the label. But they, or the official food monitoring employees at the manufacturing site, can take samples of the products to check them.
So dietary supplements don’t have to go through all of the strict tests and quality assurance processes that are required of medicines before they are sold on the market. This means that it’s not always possible to be sure that all dietary supplement products have the same quality.