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To the Point

What's Really in Your Workout Supplement?

The Food and Drug Administration has authority over a $33 billion business in dietary supplements for weight loss and work-outs sold in hundreds of vitamin shops across the nation. Do regulators hired from the industry itself have conflicts of interest? Some dietary supplements approved by the FDA have been withdrawn from the shelves in Canada.

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By Warren Olney • Apr 8, 2015 • 1 min read

The Food and Drug Administration has authority over a $33 billion business in dietary supplements for weight loss and work-outs sold in hundreds of vitamin shops across the nation. Do regulators hired from the industry itself have conflicts of interest? Some dietary supplements approved by the FDA have been withdrawn from the shelves in Canada. There, authorities say they pose "a serious health risk" because they contain a chemical much like amphetamine, the powerful stimulant. But the FDA says that "does not identify a specific safety concern at this time."

The FDA's approval of JetFuel Superburn and other supplements has raised questions from researchers and from Anahad O’Connor, a consumer health reporter at the New York Times and a fitness buff.

Photo: n-o-n-a-m-e

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

  • KCRW placeholder

    Andrea Brody

    Senior Producer, KCRW's Life Examined and To the Point podcast

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Benjamin Gottlieb

    Reporter, Fill-in Host

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    Katie Cooper

    Producer, 'One year Later'

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    Anahad O'Connor

    columnist for the Washington Post’s wellbeing section

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