Substantiation of label claims for dietary supplements, skincare, and other nutrition and wellness products.

My services include

  • Devising and reviewing label claims.

  • Creating and editing marketing collateral.

  • Writing product substantiations.

Expertise analyzing scientific research to devise strong label claims in compliance with FDA and FTC guidelines

Substantiation for structure-function claims, health claims, and nutrient content claims

Experience responding to FDA and NAD inquiries, and supporting other legal/regulatory needs

Knowledge of preclinical and clinical research on dietary ingredients, quality control, identity testing, and excipients

Research experience at UC Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, and Stanford in nutrition, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and inflammation

Expert opinions on dietary supplements and nutritional science

I serve as an expert in support of health and nutrition-related claims. Evaluating and summarizing the scientific literature has been a common theme throughout my career spanning laboratory research, teaching at the college level, and product development.

As a researcher and formulator in the dietary supplement industry, I was responsible for numerous product substantiations that covered every aspect of product and ingredient claims including preclinical and clinical research on dietary ingredients, certifications, excipients, and identity testing. My experience includes writing responses to inquiries—about dietary supplement label claims—from the FDA and the National Advertising Division (NAD).

I’m confident drawing conclusions based on the science, even when this involves challenging public health pronouncements or widely accepted points of view. For example, until recently medical professionals taught that all types of dietary fat should be avoided. Knowing that this advice was not supported by scientific research and could be harmful, I wrote a book, Fat Is Not the Enemy, and created a course at Stanford University called Fat Nutrition and Current Health Concerns. In this class, students read research articles and discussed the lack of evidence for associations that were claimed to exist between dietary fats and cancer, obesity, and heart disease.