Natural Products, Traditional Medicines, Botanicals...Can Quality Standards be Developed WITHOUT Artificially Labeling them as Dietary Supplements?

Historically, the United States embarked upon the counter-intuitive paradigm that products taken voluntarily for self-medication, both preventative and palliative...are “dietary supplements” as a category under the foods regulatory classification, i.e., dietary supplements are a sub-category of foods. In virtually every other country, they are more akin to pharmaceuticals, usually with a designation such as Herbal Medicines, Botanical Drugs, Phytomedicines, Herbal Remedies, Complementary Medicines, Traditional Chinese Medicines, Ayurvedic Medicines, Kampo Medicines, etc. Is there an opportunity to transition these types of medicaments into USP compendia, or at least find a new “home” for such ingredients and products? The USP is exploring this via our internationally-membered Dietary Supplements Expert Committee, as well as the regional experts who sit on advisory groups and expert panels in both India and China.