Dietary supplement ingredient database (DSID): Preliminary USDA studies on the composition of adult multivitamin/mineral supplements.

The Nutrient Data Laboratory of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is collaborating with the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and other government agencies to design and populate a dietary supplement ingredient database (DSID). This analytically based, publicly available database will provide reliable estimates of vitamin and mineral content of dietary supplement (DS) products. The DSID will initially be populated with multivitamin/mineral (MVM) products because they are the most commonly consumed supplements. Challenges associated with the analysis of MVMs were identified and investigated. A pilot study addressing the identification of appropriate analytical methods, sample preparation protocols, and experienced laboratories for the analysis of 12 vitamins and 11 minerals in adult MVM supplement products was completed. Preliminary studies support the development of additional analytical studies with results that can be applied to the DSID. Total intakes from foods and supplements are needed to evaluate the associations between dietary components and health. The DSID will provide better estimates of actual nutrient intake from supplements than databases that rely on label values alone.

Progress in developing analytical and label-based dietary supplement databases at the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.

Although an estimated 50% of adults in the United States consume dietary supplements, analytically substantiated data on their bioactive constituents are sparse. Several programs funded by the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health enhance dietary supplement database development and help to better describe the quantitative and qualitative contributions of dietary supplements to total dietary intakes. ODS, in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture, is developing a Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID) verified by chemical analysis. The products chosen initially for analytical verification are adult multivitamin-mineral supplements (MVMs). These products are widely used, analytical methods are available for determining key constituents, and a certified reference material is in development. Also MVMs have no standard scientific, regulatory, or marketplace definitions and have widely varying compositions, characteristics, and bioavailability. Furthermore, the extent to which actual amounts of vitamins and minerals in a product deviate from label values is not known. Ultimately, DSID will prove useful to professionals in permitting more accurate estimation of the contribution of dietary supplements to total dietary intakes of nutrients and better evaluation of the role of dietary supplements in promoting health and well-being. ODS is also collaborating with the National Center for Health Statistics to enhance the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey dietary supplement label database. The newest ODS effort explores the feasibility and practicality of developing a database of all dietary supplement labels marketed in the US. This article describes these and supporting projects.

Dietary supplement use among infants, children, and adolescents in the United States, 1999-2002.

OBJECTIVE: To describe dietary supplement use among US children. DESIGN: Analysis of nationally representative data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). SETTING: Home interviews and a mobile examination center. PARTICIPANTS: Children from birth through 18 years who participated in NHANES (N=10,136). MAIN EXPOSURE: Frequency of use of any dietary supplement product. OUTCOME MEASURE: Prevalence of use and intake of key nutrients from supplements among children. RESULTS: In 1999-2002, 31.8% of children used dietary supplements, with the lowest use reported among infants younger than 1 year (11.9%) and teenagers 14 to 18 years old (25.7%) and highest use among 4- to 8-year-old children (48.5%). Use was highest among non-Hispanic white (38.1%) and Mexican American (22.4%) participants, lowest among non-Hispanic black participants (18.8%), and was not found to differ by sex. The type of supplement most commonly used was multivitamins and multiminerals (18.3%). Ascorbic acid (28.6%), retinol (25.8%), vitamin D (25.6%), calcium (21.1%), and iron (19.3%) were the primary supplemental nutrients consumed. Supplement use was associated with families with higher incomes; a smoke-free environment; not being certified by the US Department of Agriculture Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children in the last 12 months; lower child body mass index; and less daily recreational screen time (television, video games, computers, etc) (P<.005). The highest prevalence of supplement use (P<.005) was in children who were underweight or at risk for underweight (P<.005). CONCLUSIONS: More than 30% of children in the United States take dietary supplements regularly, most often multivitamins and multiminerals. Given such extensive use, nutrient intakes from dietary supplements must be included to obtain accurate estimates of overall nutrient intake in children.

Trends in blood folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations in the United States, 1988 2004.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring the folate status of US population groups over time has been a public health priority for the past 2 decades, and the focus has been enhanced since the implementation of a folic acid fortification program in the mid-1990s. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine how population concentrations of serum and red blood cell (RBC) folate and serum vitamin B-12 have changed over the past 2 decades. DESIGN: Measurement of blood indicators of folate and vitamin B-12 status was conducted in approximately 23,000 participants in the prefortification third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III; 1988-1994) and in approximately 8000 participants in 3 postfortification NHANES periods (together covering 1999-2004). RESULTS: Serum and RBC folate concentrations increased substantially (by 119-161% and 44-64%, respectively) in each age group in the first postfortification survey period and then declined slightly (by 5-13% and 6-9%, respectively) in most age groups between the first and third postfortification survey periods. Serum vitamin B-12 concentrations did not change appreciably. Prevalence estimates of low serum and RBC folate concentrations declined in women of childbearing age from before to after fortification (from 21% to <1% and from 38% to 5%, respectively) but remained unchanged thereafter. Prevalence estimates of high serum folate concentrations increased in children and older persons from before to after fortification (from 5% to 42% and from 7% to 38%, respectively) but decreased later after fortification. CONCLUSIONS: The decrease in folate concentrations observed longer after fortification is small compared with the increase soon after the introduction of fortification. The decrease is not at the low end of concentrations and therefore does not raise concerns about inadequate status.

The caffeine contents of dietary supplements commonly purchased in the US: analysis of 53 products with caffeine-containing ingredients.

As part of a study initiating the development of an analytically validated Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID) in the United States (US), a selection of dietary supplement products were analyzed for their caffeine content. Products sold as tablets, caplets, or capsules and listing at least one caffeine-containing ingredient (including botanicals such as guarana, yerba mate, kola nut, and green tea extract) on the label were selected for analysis based on market share information. Two or three lots of each product were purchased and analyzed using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Each analytical run included one or two National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) and two products in duplicate. Caffeine intake per serving and per day was calculated using the maximum recommendations on each product label. Laboratory analysis for 53 products showed product means ranging from 1 to 829 mg caffeine/day. For products with a label amount for comparison (n = 28), 89% (n = 25) of the products had analytically based caffeine levels/day of between -16% and +16% of the claimed levels. Lot-to-lot variability (n = 2 or 3) for caffeine in most products (72%) was less than 10%.

Measuring vitamins and minerals in dietary supplements for nutrition studies in the USA.

This article illustrates the importance of having analytical data on the vitamin and mineral contents of dietary supplements in nutrition studies, and describes efforts to develop an analytically validated dietary supplement ingredient database (DSID) by a consortium of federal agencies in the USA. Preliminary studies of multivitamin mineral supplements marketed in the USA that were analyzed as candidates for the DSID are summarized. Challenges are summarized, possible future directions are outlined, and some related programs at the Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health are described. The DSID should be helpful to researchers in assessing relationships between intakes of vitamins and minerals and health outcomes.

The NIH analytical methods and reference materials program for dietary supplements.

Quality of botanical products is a great uncertainty that consumers, clinicians, regulators, and researchers face. Definitions of quality abound, and include specifications for sanitation, adventitious agents (pesticides, metals, weeds), and content of natural chemicals. Because dietary supplements (DS) are often complex mixtures, they pose analytical challenges and method validation may be difficult. In response to product quality concerns and the need for validated and publicly available methods for DS analysis, the US Congress directed the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to accelerate an ongoing methods validation process, and the Dietary Supplements Methods and Reference Materials Program was created. The program was constructed from stakeholder input and incorporates several federal procurement and granting mechanisms in a coordinated and interlocking framework. The framework facilitates validation of analytical methods, analytical standards, and reference materials.

Progress in development of an integrated dietary supplement ingredient database at the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.

Several activities of the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health involve enhancement of dietary supplement databases. These include an initiative with US Department of Agriculture to develop an analytically substantiated dietary supplement ingredient database (DSID) and collaboration with the National Center for Health Statistics to enhance the dietary supplement label database in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The many challenges that must be dealt with in developing an analytically supported DSID include categorizing product types in the database, identifying nutrients, and other components of public health interest in these products and prioritizing which will be entered in the database first. Additional tasks include developing methods and reference materials for quantifying the constituents, finding qualified laboratories to measure the constituents, developing appropriate sample handling procedures, and finally developing representative sampling plans. Developing the NHANES dietary supplement label database has other challenges such as collecting information on dietary supplement use from NHANES respondents, constant updating and refining of information obtained, developing default values that can be used if the respondent cannot supply the exact supplement or strength that was consumed, and developing a publicly available label database. Federal partners and the research community are assisting in making an analytically supported dietary supplement database a reality.