It is now illegal to sell weightloss and muscle-building supplements for minors in New York, under a first-in-the-nation law that took effect this week.
Experts say lax federal regulations on dietary supplements mean these products sometimes contain unapproved ingredients, like steroids and heavy metals, putting children at risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors the market, but it does not test products before they are sold.
“The law that we developed reflects the lack of regulation on the part of the FDA and the lack of regulation in the industry,” said Jensen Jose, a regulatory advisor at the Center for Science in the Public Interest who worked on the legislation.
Massachusetts state lawmakers are considering a similar measure. The California State House of Representatives already passed a ban on the sale of weight loss supplements to minors, which the governor vetoed, but lawmakers are considering a new version. A Colorado law ending sale of diet pills to minors comes into force in July.
New York law allows the state to fine companies that sell children’s diet pills or supplements that advertise themselves as helping build muscle or burn fat. Protein supplements and shakes are exempt unless they contain another ingredient for weight loss or muscle building.
Although specific products are not banned, the law states that judges enforcing the measure could consider the inclusion of ingredients such as creatine, green tea extract and raspberry ketone.
The bill’s creators point to studies that found some supplements were secretly contaminated with banned anabolic steroids and stimulants. That makes the products especially harmful to children, who are still growing, said Theresa Gentile, a registered nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
At Natural Body Astoria, a vitamin and supplement store in Queens, worker Nick Kubler said the company was already self-monitoring before the law took effect this week.
“We never really sold anything like that to kids anyway, but we’re definitely more aware of it now,” Kubler said.
Dhriti Rathod, a 17-year-old model and student at the New York Institute of Technology, said she supports the restrictions.
“People my age don’t care about this stuff, they do it based on what they see online,” Rathod said. “They see that people are using it, so they jump in and start using it, but they don’t know the dangers.”
But the new regulations have been met with pushback from the industry as a whole, with some retailers saying the definition of what can and cannot be sold to children is unclear.
“The actual definition of what is illegal to sell to a minor is incredibly vague,” said Lee Wright, general manager of the national chain The Vitamin Shoppe.
He says the company spent “an inordinate amount of time” figuring out how to implement the new rules. Its computer systems now display a pop-up screen when the type of products covered by the law are sold.
The law was also challenged by at least two lawsuits filed by industry groups that claimed it was too vague and that regulation was the responsibility of the FDA.
In one of those lawsuits, a Manhattan federal judge last Friday rejected a motion by the Council for Responsible Nutrition to block the law from taking effect, finding it to be “uncompromisingly clear” and saying the organization’s fears of potential fines and loss of revenue “pale”. in comparison” with the State’s objective of protecting young people from “unlimited access to food supplements”.
FDA spokespeople did not respond to email messages seeking comment.
State Sen. Shelley Mayer, a Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said implementation shouldn’t be so difficult for companies, since some of them already categorize their supplements for weight loss or muscle development.
It’s unclear how much big online retailers like Amazon will ensure that they do not ship the supplements to minors in the Empire State. The company did not respond to a request for comment. Some products in The Vitamin Shoppe’s online store indicate that buyers in New York will be required to show identification upon delivery.
Maxim Abramciuc, an 18-year-old who has used muscle-building supplements in the past, said that while he understands the restriction, he doesn’t entirely agree with it.
“They should be able to buy some of these products,” he said while browsing a vitamin and supplement store in Albany. “If it has few side effects, why shouldn’t children take it?”
