(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) Vice President of State & Local Government Affairs Carlos Gutiérrez today released the below statement following West Virginia’s passing and signing legislation that will prohibit the sale of dietary supplements containing certain additives.
“CHPA is disappointed in West Virginia’s overly broad move to ban color additives in foods, which includes dietary supplements, a subset of foods. HB 2354 will significantly decrease consumer choice and availability of dietary supplements which are safe and beneficial healthcare products. Food coloring also serves a critical safety function. For seniors, parents, and caregivers, distinctive coloring helps differentiate between tablets, significantly reducing consumption errors that could cause harmful effects, particularly in households where multiple family members use different products.
Fragmented state-by-state decision-making weakens both food safety and supply. West Virginia’s decision to restrict color additives which have already been approved through the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) pre-market evaluation process creates a patchwork of inconsistent regulations which will harm consumers by limiting access to dietary supplements and undermining the FDA's comprehensive and scientifically rigorous process for evaluating the safety of colors.
“CHPA agrees that if substances are proven unsafe through a transparent scientific evaluation, the FDA should promptly remove them from the market, as exemplified by the recent action on Red Dye No. 3, but that is not what West Virginia has done. The precipitous enactment of this legislation will generate widespread confusion and impose overly burdensome restrictions, resulting in unforeseen ramifications for the thousands of West Virginia residents who depend on these products. CHPA urges Governor Morrisey and state legislators to promptly reassess this law.”
