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  1. Information for Industry on Dietary Supplements

Letter to the Dietary Supplement Industry on the DSHEA Disclaimer

December 11, 2025

Dear Dietary Supplement Manufacturers, Distributors, and Retailers:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) has received several requests to amend our labeling regulation at 21 CFR 101.93(d),1 which governs the placement of the disclaimer required under section 403(r)(6)(C) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).  Section 403(r)(6)(C), which was added by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), provides that certain statements for a dietary supplement may be made if “the statement contains, prominently displayed and in boldface type, the following: ‘This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.’”  This disclaimer is referred to here as the DSHEA disclaimer.

FDA is currently considering these requests to amend 21 CFR 101.93(d).  This regulation states the DSHEA disclaimer shall be placed adjacent to the statement with no intervening material or linked to the statement with a symbol (e.g., an asterisk) at the end of each statement described in section 403(r)(6) of the FD&C Act, such as a structure/function claim, (i.e., a “403(r)(6) claim”).  The regulation goes on to state “the disclaimer shall appear on each panel” of a product label where there is a 403(r)(6) claim.  Based on FDA’s initial review, we expect that revising this regulation to remove the requirement for the DSHEA disclaimer to appear on each panel of a product label where there is a 403(r)(6) claim would be consistent with section 403(r)(6)(C) of the FD&C Act while reducing label clutter and unnecessary costs.  Further, FDA recognizes that we have rarely, if ever, enforced this requirement.  If FDA does not identify significant concerns as we continue our review of the available data and information regarding this request, we are likely to propose a rule to amend this requirement.

Given that the rulemaking process can take some time, we intend to exercise enforcement discretion regarding the requirement for the DSHEA disclaimer to appear on each panel of a product label where a 403(r)(6) claim appears.  We do not intend to exercise enforcement discretion with respect to the requirement to include the DSHEA disclaimer on the product label and link the disclaimer to each 403(r)(6) claim, along with other requirements of 21 CFR 101.93.

Sincerely,

/S/

Kyle Diamantas
Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods
Food and Drug Administration

  1. 1For example, in response to a request for information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in connection with President Trump’s deregulatory initiatives, several groups have requested that FDA modify 21 CFR 101.93(d). (See Docket ID AHRQ-2025-0001, Request for Information (RFI): Ensuring Lawful Regulation and Unleashing Innovation to Make America Healthy Again).
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