On television or in a magazine they are everywhere, those infomercials or 3 page advertisements claming their product can change a person’s life in a months time. These products claim to be all natural and to be used as a dietary supplement. But what does dietary supplement mean. One would think that this would be a pill for a meal replacement or a supplement that aids the diet into losing weight. No

The drug ephedrine is very harmful to the body. Since three billon dollars was spent on these products last year alone, something must be done to educate the consumer. Possible solutions could be taking away the act that prevents the FDA from testing these supplements with ephedrine. Once the act is taken away then real doctors, with non-bias opinions can test the drug. Then the consumer could really find out the truth about this herbal supplement. Let experts decide not some guy off the street whether this is safe for people or not.

With the FDA unable to check the claims of the dietary supplement, this makes it very easy for the manufacturers to label the packaging with ingredients that may not be in the product. This is extremely misleading to the consumer. The consumer is paying $ 30 to $50 for the product and may not be getting anything that will aid the body in weight loss or enhance performance for the person’s sport. The consumer is also mislead by the pictures that go with the statements. The picture usually has the person that was mentioned earlier with dramatic results. These results include 20% body fat reduction and twenty pounds of muscle gained in thirty days. How can the consumer buy the product, when the picture has the words “results not typical” next to the picture in small print? The print is so small and discrete that if the reader is not attentive to what he or she is reading they will miss, the most important part of the advertisement.

Most people know that cigarettes are bad for a person’s health and cigarettes eventually kill thousands of people a year. This is why one must be eighteen years old to buy this product. If a person is an adult he or she should be able to make his or her own decision. This is why most of the dietary supplements begin with the sentence “Not for the use by individuals under the age of 18”. This cannot become a law because the FDA cannot test these products. People just have to trust the manufacturers word?

Since the drug ephedrine is so dangerous but used by so many, something needs to be done. People should not have to pay their life or risk serious harm for a quick fix or to enhance someone’s performance. Strict laws need to be put on these products. Hopefully the consumer will crack down on the “crack” itself.

Some topics in this essay:
McMahon CHES, Barret MD, , Diet Fuel, Education Act, Ripped Force, Real Sports, dietary supplement, Shane Garret, drug ephedrine, weight loss, dietary supplements, warning label, performance enhancer, makes easy manufacturers, real sports, product safe, makes easy, supplements products, drug ephedrine harmful, people lose weight, dramatic weight loss,