A Free New Dietary Supplement Label Database for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recognizes the importance of including dietary supplements in assessing and planning dietary intakes.1 Dietary supplement (DS) use in the United States has increased markedly during the last 30 years and is now widespread across all segments of society.2,3,4,5,6 Today, over half of adults and a third of US children have used one or more DS within the past 30 days, with multi-vitamin, multi-mineral (MVMM) products especially common.7, 8 Since supplements are now major sources of several nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D in American diets, it is important for registered dietitians and nutritionists (RDNs) to include their contributions when assessing intakes or planning diets.9,10,11 Likewise, for national nutrition surveillance the contributions to nutrient intakes from supplements must be considered in order to identify groups at dietary risk because their intakes fall below the estimated average requirement (EAR) or above the upper tolerable intake level (UL).12 For example, when supplements are included in assessments, the proportion of the United States population that is below the EAR is much less for several vitamins11 and fewer women are “at risk” (defined as below the EAR) for folate intake than when they are not.13,14 For some nutrients, like folic acid, the UL is established based solely for the form that comes from fortificants in foods and in dietary supplements. RDNs, epidemiologists, and public health officials also need accurate dietary supplement databases in order to evaluate possible associations between nutrient intake and disease outcomes. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dietary supplement label database contains label-derived information from supplement products that is updated every two years. Information contained in the database is driven by what is reported by survey participants. The currently available database contains supplement label information for products reported from 1999–2010. While the NHANES DS database provides useful information, it is not comprehensive and is more likely to contain commonly used supplements and less likely to contain infrequently used supplements.15 In fact, MVMM products account for only about half of all supplements used.3 Additionally, not all information from the label is recorded and released in the database. For example, the NHANES database does not contain information such as health claims, other ingredients and warning statements that may have been on the label.