James Gormley writes:

“Retailers, consumers, and natural products industry stakeholders have a history of generally—although not exclusively—uniting for what they considered the common good against regulation that could restrict consumer access and harm the industry, and in favor of legislation that would improve access and strengthen the industry…

On Jun. 18, 1966, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced onerous vitamin and mineral regulations that would have banned nutrient potencies above 100% of the RDAs by classifying those products as drugs, in addition to labeling requirements that would have eliminated most useful information.

The response was a sustained battle led by the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA)—now the Natural Products Association (NPA)—that unified consumers, retailers, and manufacturers… Ultimately the industry and consumers won this battle on Apr. 22, 1976 when the Hosmer-Proxmire Vitamin Bill—which eliminated these proposed regulations—was signed into law.

Fast-forward to the 1990s. Lobbyist Jack Martin said in a 2007 interview with Suzanne Shelton that, ‘The catalyst for DSHEA [Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act] was the enforcement activities of FDA and the possible impact of the regulations that were being written for NLEA [the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990].’

According to Martin, although there was an enormous uproar over FDA actions relating to black currant oil, he noted that, ‘The final spark was a direct result of the regulations being written for the NLEA.’ According to Martin: ‘These regs would have made it almost impossible to educate any consumer about the benefits of dietary supplements.’

If that was the spark, arguably the blaze that mobilized a nation was the ‘Tahoma Clinic Raid’ on May 6, 1992. In this raid, the FDA stormed Dr. Jonathan Wright’s clinic with armed sheriffs who seized vitamins, equipment, and medical records, in the process reportedly frightening both patients and staff. Anger about, and fear of, these shock-and-awe tactics spread like wildfire across the U.S.

…According to the Foundation for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine (FAIM): ‘Innumerable grassroots organizations around the country were mobilized on just this issue and the in-pouring of mail to Capitol Hill was estimated to be greater than that received against the Vietnam War.’

In fact, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), NNFA, the Utah Natural Products Alliance (UNPA)—now the United Natural Products Alliance—Citizens for Health and others, all working together, enabled the passage of DSHEA in October 1994.”

Learn more: Battles That Have United the Natural Products Industry — and Those Which Have Not