The US Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Committee on the Framework for Evaluating the Safety of Dietary Supplements has released its first draft prototype monograph, reports the NNFA.
The IOM was commissioned by the FDA in July to assess whether a full-scale investigation into the safety of the supplements was necessary, and will publish its final report later in the year. Depending on the results of that report, the FDA may then decide whether to proceed with an in depth investigation of the supplements.
Chaparral is the first of six ingredients chosen for review - the others are saw palmetto, melatonin, chromium picolinate, glucosamine and shark cartilage. The committee asserts that the monograph is intended to be a concise, not comprehensive, literature review on the safety of chaparral - not its benefits.
The IOM said it had chosen to look at chaparral, commonly found in herbal teas, because of concerns about its effect on liver toxicity, while the other ingredients were also selected because of safety concerns.
The chaparral monograph public comment period is open until 23 September, and the monograph can be reviewed at the IOM's website.