You know that rapid-fire laundry list of potential side-effects you hear at the end of television drug ads? You knowвЂ¦the ones that sometimes sound even worse than the condition the drug is designed to treat (loss of bowel control?!)? So, for now weвЂll have to sit tight and see what happens next. They just donвЂt want supplement companies to be able to say 'weight loss' in their claims-crippling new companiesвЂ and supplementsвЂ ability to get into the public view.ДЄt this point, the FDA hasnвЂt taken any specific action and has not addressed (at least not publicly) its take on the petition. Interestingly enough, the petition doesnвЂt ask for the outright banning of weight loss supplements-so youвЂd still be able to get your hands on the ones you already know about. Provided supplement companies are able to produce credible substantiation, the CRN statement continues, weight loss claims are actually 'legitimate and appropriate.'Дozens of other nutritional supplement companies and their advocates are ready to join the fight against this petition as well. In the statement prepared by President and CEO, Steve Mister, the Council for Responsible Nutrition has already stepped up to the plate and announced their plans to 'vigorously defend the industryвЂs rights in this area.' In essence, itвЂs a petition to bend the rules in the name of 'bully' capitalism. And, as such, they might as well classify obesity as a disease too. But, notes that there is significant research associating obesity with a number of disease states. The petition actually acknowledges that obesity, in and of itself, is not a disease. It seems, now that GSK has an over-the-counter, FDA-approved, weight loss pill (Alli, launched last June), they want to stamp out any potential competition from the nutritional supplement world. If the FDA agrees, nutritional supplement distributors would no longer be allowed to sell anything designed to support healthy weight loss without first having their product (and/or claims) approved by the FDA.ДЄ move that would be in direct conflict with the tenets of Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994.

вЂ¦asking the FDA to treat weight loss claims as disease claims!

In yet another attempt by the mainstream pharmaceutical world to discredit the benefits of natural supplements, GlaxoSmithKline-along with their buddies, The American Dietetic Association, The Obesity Society and Shaping AmericaвЂs Health-attempted to squeeze a petition under the radarвЂ¦

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