Selling Weight Loss and Muscle Building Supplements to Minors is Now Illegal in New York

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Selling weight-loss and muscle-building supplements to minors is now illegal in New York. This is due to a nationwide first law that came into force this week.

Experts say lax federal regulation of dietary supplements has led to these products sometimes containing unapproved ingredients such as steroids and heavy metals, putting children at risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors the market but does not test products before they are sold.

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“The law we drafted reflects the lack of regulation by the FDA and the lack of regulation in the industry,” said Jensen Jose, a member of the regulatory counsel at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who worked on the legislation.

State lawmakers in Massachusetts are considering a similar measure. The California House of Representatives previously passed a ban on the sale of weight-loss supplements to minors, which the governor vetoed, but lawmakers there are considering a new version. A law banning the sale of diet pills to minors goes into effect in Colorado in July.

New York law allows the state to penalize companies that sell diet pills or nutritional supplements for children that advertise that they help build muscle or burn fat. Protein supplements and shakes are exempt unless they contain another weight-loss or muscle-building ingredient.

While specific products are not banned, the law says judges enforcing the measure could consider inclusion of ingredients such as creatine, green tea extract and raspberry ketone.

The drafters of the bill point to studies that show some dietary supplements are secretly laced with anabolic steroids and banned stimulants. That makes the products particularly harmful to children who are still growing, said Theresa Gentile, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

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At Natural Body Astoria, a vitamin and supplement store in Queens, employee Nick Kubler said the company had already been policing itself before the law went into effect this week.

“We’ve never sold anything like this to children before, but we’re definitely more aware now,” said Kübler.

Dhriti Rathod, a 17-year-old model and student at the New York Institute of Technology, said she supports the restrictions.

“People my age don’t engage in such things, they do it based on what they see online,” Rathod said. “They see that people have been using it, so they go right in and start using it, but they don’t know the dangers.”

But the new regulation was met with resistance across the industry. Some retailers said the definition of what can and cannot be sold to children is unclear.

“The actual definition of what is illegal to sell to minors is incredibly vague,” said Lee Wright, general manager of national chain The Vitamin Shoppe.

He says the company spent an “excessive amount of time” figuring out how to implement the new rules. The company’s computer systems now display a pop-up screen when the type of products targeted by the law are being sold.

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The law was also challenged by at least two lawsuits from industry groups that argued it was too vague and that regulation was the responsibility of the FDA.

In one of those lawsuits, a federal judge in Manhattan last Friday rejected a request from the Council for Responsible Nutrition to block the law from taking effect, saying it was “uncompromisingly clear” and saying the organization’s fears of potential fines and loss of income have “faded”. in comparison” to the state’s goal of protecting young people from “unrestricted access to nutritional supplements”.

FDA spokespeople did not respond to email messages seeking comment.

State Sen. Shelley Mayer, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said it shouldn’t be that difficult for companies to implement because some of them already classify their supplements into weight-loss or muscle-building categories.

It’s unclear how major online retailers like Amazon will ensure they don’t ship the supplements to minors in the Empire State. The company did not respond to a request for comment. Certain products in The Vitamin Shoppe online store require buyers in New York to provide ID upon delivery.

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Maxim Abramciuc, an 18-year-old who has taken muscle-building supplements in the past, said he understands the restriction but doesn’t entirely agree with it.

“You should be able to buy some of these products,” he said while browsing at a vitamin and supplement store in Albany. “If it has minor side effects, why shouldn’t children take it?”

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Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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