150 Years of Detox: How Inadequate Dietary Supplement Regulation Undermines Consumer Safety in the Weight Loss Industry

Prior to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, the American food and drug market was a proverbial “wild west,” fraught with charlatans, snake oil salesmen, and manufacturers cutting costs at the expense of consumers. The Pure Food and Drug Act, along with the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 took steps to address this problem, creating the modern food and drug regulatory scheme. While American food and drugs are markedly safer now than they were 150 years ago, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 has prevented di- etary supplement safety from keeping pace. A number of consumer crises over the past thirty years—particularly the ephedrine alkaloid crisis—demonstrate that the current dietary supplement regulatory scheme does not adequately protect consumers. This Note details the history of why dietary supplements are regulated as foods. This Note then parallels the current dietary supplement trend of weight loss and detox teas with the ephedrine alkaloid crises to demonstrate the dangers of lax safety regulations. Finally, this Note argues that the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act obstructs the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to protect American consumers, contravenes the original purpose of food and drug regulation, and must be updated to effectuate these goals.