On Dec. 8, I attended the Food and Drug Law Institute's Enforcement, Litigation and Compliance Conference in Washington, D.C.,  which included a panel titled, "Criminal Enforcement in Foods, Cosmetics, and Dietary Supplements." During that session, Michael Blume, director  of the Consumer Protection branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, discussed the government's focus on prosecution of individuals.

When asked to comment about criminal prosecutions related to dietary supplements, Blume responded that dietary supplements are a focus of DOJ. While there are others, he noted that three categories of cases stood out as most often being of interest to DOJ:

Blume also stressed that once an investigation starts, it will not be limited to violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and often prosecutions are based on fraud and other criminal acts.

While none of this should be surprising, it is important to remember that product recalls, warning letters and even injunctions are not necessarily the end of the story for distributing adulterated, misbranded or otherwise dangerous supplements. In fact, in certain circumstances, individuals may end up in jail.  

Will botanicals make a difference?
How has the DOJ's direction in 2014 affected your supplement business or retail sales?