Provable Herb Health Labels Suggested

Companies that produce herbal supplements, vitamins and minerals should be able to make health claims about them as long as they can prove those claims, a government-appointed panel said. The Commission on Dietary Supplement Labels sent its final report to Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, who must decide whether to recommend new laws or regulations. Malden Nesheim, professor of nutrition at Cornell University in New York and chairman of the panel, said “at least 50% of the [U.S.] population . . . is taking some kind of supplement, mostly vitamins or minerals, but increasingly herbs as well.”