Posted by Larry Hoover on December 6, 2003, at 7:08:55
In reply to Larry, prohibited for sale in the U.S.?, posted by McPac on December 6, 2003, at 0:35:07
> Lar,
> the Rep. from Vitamin Shoppe sent me this (she still maintains that it's prohibited). I know I see it all the time as one of multiple ingredients in a product, like protein that weightlifters would use...but I haven't seen it at a health food store as a single product lately.It's possible there's been some government pressure, post 9/11.
> Anyway, she sent me this:
>
> Please look at the link below obtained from the official web site of the
> FDA. In the very bottom of the email in the Guidance section, it specifies
> that the sale of L-Tryptophane is prohibited in the U.S.
>
> Thank You,
> Kathy
>
> http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia5404.html
> <<IMPORT ALERT IA5404.url>>
>McPac is a girl? I'll tell you....I form impressions, but they can be wrong ones.
The way I read the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, and the explicit way the FDA referred to l-tryptophan as *not* being prohibited in dietary supplements....there is no prohibition against sale, period. The l-tryptophan in weightlifting products was in the crude protein, so it's nothing more than pre-digested food.
The way I interpret the import alert is as a tool for front-line workers in the customs department, i.e. detain all tryptophan until smarter people can have a look at it. For bulk imports destined for approved uses, as under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, the product would undoubtedly be released for use. Smaller samples, such as shipments purchased by an individual would not be released, as testing and assurances of safety would be cost-prohibitive. All that means is American users of tryptophan are by necessity forced to use domestic sources, where the supply has come under US government regulation.
That is my interpretation of the law, and how it applies to l-tryptophan. Legal, but only under certain conditions.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:286901
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20031204/msgs/287099.html