Dietary supplement makers push the FDA to allow peptides and other new ingredients

he Food and Drug Administration seal is seen at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) 2026-03-27T13:38:50Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Makers of dietary supplements are pushing the Food and Drug Administration to expand the types of ingredients they can put in their products, a change that could open the door to more marketing of peptides, probiotics and other trendy wellness offerings.

The FDA was holding a public meeting Friday to discuss its longstanding criteria for dietary supplements and whether they could be broadened to include substances that don’t come from food, vitamins, herbs or other traditional ingredients.

FDA officials will hear from industry executives, consumer advocates and academics.

It’s the first such meeting since Robert F.

Kennedy Jr. became the nation’s top health official last year.

Kennedy has vowed to “end the war at FDA” on dietary supplements, peptides and other products that are popular within his Make America Healthy Again movement .

Friday’s meeting came at the request of the Natural Products Association, an industry group that has clashed with the FDA over certain new supplement ingredients.

The group asked for the meeting in a January letter, citing “the cost and uncertainty that arise when regulatory expectations are unclear.” Here’s what to know about the issue: Many wellness products don’t qualify as supplements Under FDA regulations, supplements are deemed to be a category of food, with most of their ingredients coming from plants, herbs and other substances found in the American diet.

That requirement has become a challenge for the industry in recent years as newer wellness products often feature substances that have never been used in food.

Peptides, for instance, are druglike chains of amino acids that have been widely promoted by celebrities and influencers as a way to build muscle and look younger, although there’s little science supporting their use.

Many specialty pharmacies and clinics sell them as injections or IV infusions , but some supplement makers have also begun adding them to capsules, gummies and powders.

Technically, those products violate FDA rules, according to FDA lawyers.

The same goes for certain types of probiotics, bacteria-containing products that are pitched to aid digestion and promote gut health.

Companies argue that FDA law, as written, doesn’t specify that all ingredients must come from food. “The hope of the meeting

原文链接: AP News