October 5, 2022—Lawmakers in California and New York recently passed bills restricting the sale of non-prescription diet supplements to minors. California Governor Gavin Newsom subsequently vetoed his state’s bill but expressed openness to future legislative action on the issue. Similar bills have been introduced in Massachusetts, Missouri, and New Jersey. Use of weight loss supplements has been linked to increased risk of eating disorders in youth and young adults, and some of these products have been found to contain dangerous ingredients.
“Unscrupulous manufacturers are willing to take risks with consumers’ health—and they are lacing their products with illegal pharmaceuticals, banned pharmaceuticals, steroids, excessive stimulants, even experimental stimulants,” S. Bryn Austin, director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a September 13, 2022, U.S. News and World Report article. “Consumers have no idea that this is what’s in these types of products.”
STRIPED provides research and advocacy in support of bills restricting supplement sales to minors.
Read U.S. News and World Report article: California and New York Aim to Curb Diet Pill Sales to Minors