The Dietary Supplement Health Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) defined dietary ingredients as

  • a vitamin;
  • a mineral;
  • an herb or other botanical;
  • an amino acid;
  • a dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake; or
  • a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of any of the above.

Dietary ingredients in use as of October 15, 1994, the date DSHEA was signed into law, were included in this definition. However, any ingredients introduced for use in dietary supplements after that date are required by law to be the subject of a New Dietary Ingredient Notification (NDIN).  To learn more about NDINs, the results of recent NDIN submissions and what your NDIN should include, please see a recent article my colleagues and I have published: NDIs for dietary supplements: How to proceed in 2020.
Let me know if you have questions.  My colleagues and I would be pleased to help you with your submission.