Alaska House Bill 326 is dubbed “An Act relating to the sale of weight-loss drugs and muscle-building supplements to minors; and relating to the regulation of weight-loss drugs and muscle-building supplements by municipalities”.
The bill, proposed by independent State Representative Alyse Galvin, targets dietary supplements that are labeled, marketed or otherwise represented for the purpose of achieving weight loss or building muscle. The bill also includes over-the-counter weight loss drugs.
It requires age verification using government-issued identification for all in-person and virtual sales and allows for fines of $250 for the first violation and then $350 for every subsequent violation.
In response, Kyle Turk, vice president of government affairs at the Natural Products Association (NPA), told NutraIngredients: “This bill treats everyday Alaskans as if they cannot be trusted to make basic decisions about their own health. That’s not only offensive—it’s wrong. There is no credible evidence that lawful dietary supplements cause eating disorders and using a serious mental health issue as a political talking point is irresponsible.
“Instead of focusing on real problems, lawmakers are trying to dress up government overreach as consumer protection. Congress already created a comprehensive framework for these products under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). Alaska should not be freelancing its own version of federal law, especially when the result will be fewer choices, higher costs and more confusion for families simply trying to take care of their own health.”
STRIPED
This is the latest in a campaign of legislative efforts across the country to restrict access to certain categories of dietary supplements. Many of the efforts reportedly originate from the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED), launched as a “public health incubator” based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Proponents of the restrictions cite a purported link between the use of such products and the worsening of eating disorders, even though a review of the scientific literature, funded by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, concluded that the “evidence to date does not support a causative role for dietary supplements in eating disorders.
“The use of dietary supplements for weight management in both male and female teens appears to be declining, and the objective of weight loss is not observed as a common motivation for the use of dietary supplements among this age group,” wrote Susan Hewlings, PhD, RD, the author of the review, which was published in the journal Nutrients.
