[2] The act was intended to exempt the dietary and herbal supplement industry from most FDA drug regulations, allowing them to be sold and marketed without scientific backing for their health and medical claims.

In response to the proposed bill, many health food companies began lobbying the government to vote down the laws and told the public that the FDA would ban dietary supplements.

[4] A notable advertisement[5] featured the actor Mel Gibson being raided and arrested by FDA agents because he was taking vitamin C supplements.

"[6] Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) introduced the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act in 1994.

On October 25, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the Act into law, saying that "After several years of intense efforts, manufacturers, experts in nutrition, and legislators, acting in a conscientious alliance with consumers at the grassroots level, have moved successfully to bring common sense to the treatment of dietary supplements under regulation and law.

"[7] Hatch had significant financial support from supplement manufacturers, including multi-level marketing firms XanGo and Herbalife.

[13] Other research has shown that the FDA has an insufficient network in the dietary supplement marketplace for responding to reports of adverse events.

The agency is permitted to restrict a substance if it poses a 'significant and unreasonable risk' under the conditions of use on the label or as commonly consumed ... Congress has shown little interest in protecting consumers from the hazards of dietary supplements, let alone from the fraudulent claims that are made, since its members apparently believe that few of these products place people in real danger.