The Frontline documentary, “Supplements and Safety,” provides a thorough and insightful description of the main problems existing in the supplement industry: safety, regulation, and efficacy. The New York Times reporter, Anahad O’Connor, gathered evidence from recent research projects and interviews with the representatives of the federal government, healthcare practitioners, victims of harmful products, and supplement producers that are likely to disturb every consumer who has ever been interested in purchasing natural remedies. Some of the facts revealed in the documentary will be discussed in the present paper.
The major concern with the modern supplement industry is that the product development process is largely uncontrolled by the government, and there are currently no effective regulations that would ensure product safety. As the active commissioner of FDA, Stephen Ostroff, stated in the film, “the FDA does not do any review of dietary supplements before they come onto the market” (Supplements and Safety 5:19-5:27).
They do control the manufacturing process, urge manufacturers to comply with high safety standards, and carry out regular inspections, yet the content of pills is beyond their grasp. Due to this, supplement producers can put almost anything in their products, and the worst of all is the situation when unverified and extremely detrimental ingredients become mixed and sold. It is true that consumers pay to get some positive effects from natural remedies and supplements.
Still, it is possible to deal with the situation when supplements simply do not work and show no desired results, but the cases when “natural” products ruin individuals’ lives by inducing irreversible organ damages or cause death are outrageous and provoke severe indignation.
Another significant concern, which is directly related to the first one, is that supplements are vastly advertised and their use is promoted through numerous media. Just like in many other profit-oriented industries, ads that aim to sell supplements mainly appeal to consumer emotions and often promise miraculous and unrealistic effects. As such, present-day buyers are now growing more suspicious about this type of advertising. Nevertheless, they continue to trust authoritative figures in healthcare, government, and other organizations that sometimes encourage the use of supplements.
Unfortunately, consumers may lack awareness of the true motives of these promoters who may primarily seek personal and financial interests while stimulating product sales growth. As the results of the studies by Dr. Steven Newmaster and Eric Schneiderman revealed, many of companies specialized in dietary supplements can even put those ingredients in their pills that are not listed on the label.
Their DNA investigations of supplement contents made it clear that only about 20% of all products that one may buy in large store chains in the United States are what they are intended to be, while others comprise large portions of rice, asparagus, and other cheap plants’ DNA (Supplements and Safety 46:50-47:10). In this way, manufacturers may attempt to reduce production costs, but such an unethical practice demonstrates that they do not consider consumer interests at all. Overall, it means that the public remains misinformed about the actual effectiveness and safety of supplements available in the market and often has no access to relevant scientific evidence that would support individuals’ choices of medicines.
In my opinion, public education about supplements, their efficacy, and potential risks, as well as the industry in general, is as important as the proper regulation of product development and manufacturing. The documentary touched upon the issue of insufficient research on dietary supplements, and it seems that it is one of the root causes of all problems discussed in the film. Recent research evidence is needed to substantiate the creation of guidelines and standards for the production and intake of various natural remedies.
For instance, it was mentioned in “Supplements and Safety” that some present-day products contain vitamins in the amount that exceeds the recommended daily dose, whereas the excess consumption of some nutrients can be as harmful or even more dangerous as vitamin and mineral deficiency (Supplements and Safety 38:20-38:58). It is also important to ensure that both consumers and supplement producers have access to and acknowledge high-quality scientific evidence and base their behaviors on it. Therefore, more efforts should be undertaken to investigate various aspects of supplement development and intake and to make consumers aware of the most recent research findings in the field.
To sum up the discussion, I would like to say that I am in favor of natural remedies and consider that frequently they can be more effective than chemical drugs. However, it is valid to say that the dietary supplement industry, in general, is not trustworthy at the present moment because many firms are profit-oriented rather than human-oriented. Besides producers’ non-compliance with basic ethical principles, the government fails to control supplement development and production processes and does not respond to existing dilemmas as promptly as required.
Therefore, consumers have to take all the responsibility to minimize the potential risks associated with supplement intake. If one deems necessary to take vitamins, it can be recommended for him or her to look for credible data about different ingredients, compounds, and intake guidelines and also check the information about organizations that make potions and pills. Nevertheless, since it is impossible to be completely certain in the product’s effectiveness and safety, it is better to make some adjustments in one’s diet to make sure that it provides most of the important micro-nutrients and does not include any detrimental foods.
Work Cited
Supplements and Safety. Directed by Neil Docherty. Frontline, 2016.