The grassroots activities supporting the passage of DSHEA—the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act—in 1994 are legendary. It was one of those rare times in politics when everyone comes together to fight for an issue that can change the direction of an entire industry—and that’s exactly what DSHEA did. By allowing greater access to information about dietary supplements, while providing important consumer safeguards, DSHEA fostered exponential industry growth.
Interestingly, those congressional staff members and legislators who were around for DSHEA’s passage still talk about the impressive volume of letters, faxes and phone calls urging support for this important law. In fact, it’s said that more letters were sent to Congress regarding DSHEA than for the entire Vietnam War!
Although industry activists in support of DSHEA included manufacturers, distributors, trade associations and retailers large and small, it was the retailer who acted as a conduit to the hundreds of thousands of consumers who also took up the banner for DSHEA. Through in-store campaigns that demonstrated what a health food store might look like if DSHEA didn’t pass (hint: no supplements for sale), petitions and letter-writing campaigns, retailers were on the front lines in the battle for DSHEA.
So when the Natural Products Association (NPA) hears DSHEA may again be in jeopardy, as it has been in recent Congresses, we realize rallying the retailer troops and their customers by the thousands may be the best defense. Although health food stores and consumers may be as ready and willing as they were in 1994 to help ensure DSHEA is preserved, the playing field has changed drastically in the years since the law passed. Specifically, cyber advocacy has revolutionized who has access to advocates and how they communicate with their legislators. And that includes opponents to DSHEA.