Here we are coming to the end of another long hot summer in the industry. Well, perhaps not quite so hot this year. That is part of the message to reflect on. There were some amazingly notable events that cropped up during the Northern Hemisphere’s hot spell. Some of them are likely to have ramifications going forward. The real issue, however, is the fact that this is another election year in the US. That means another chance to see into the future and divine what is coming for us as an industry on a longer term basis. The last election cycle didn’t change much as far as the industry was concerned. The change in party control of the House of Representatives did not have the effect I, for one, anticipated. There is no knowing what the reasoning for that is, but the activity from the House was more behind the scenes. There were inquiries of FDA as to why they weren’t doing more to clamp down on the industry. There were threat made concerning funding if FDA didn’t specifically adjust its enforcement efforts. The FDA, for its part, did not fold nor did they take a hard line one way or the other. This brings us back to the election year thing. Perhaps the Executive Branch of government will change parties as well. This would obviously place the Secretary of HHS (to whom FDA reports) in a new light. Perhaps this will reach down to the Commissioner’s office, perhaps not. The next “real” issue for the industry is the same as the old real issue. Simply put – it is best identified as “inaction.” Were we all lethargic during the summer? FDA included? There were numerous opportunities to reach out and touch something in the world of dietary supplements and this reach was something we didn’t employ. Anyone remember the little matter of the Citizen’s Petition filed by (among others) Glaxo-SmithKline? You know, the one that basically would close the door on a host of claims and render the dietary supplement category useless. Remember? Well, we didn’t seem to do a lot about it. Anybody else recall the other pieces of seemingly innocuous legislation that floated through Congress? Well you might want to check your Congressional Record a little more closely. The building of regulatory and legislative walls around the industry continues. Still, our voices are relatively quiet. My hunch – we are lulled into that summertime stupor that overcomes most of us as the efforts go on around us. When we awaken, it might just be to the knock at the door of the newly hired FDA agents (you remember that they are scheduling a mass hiring with the new funds that are “earmarked” for dietary supplement enforcement). A rude awakening. At the risk of sounding too much like Chicken Little, we should be acting now to preserve a future rather than resting on the present bounty of the industry. Stay tuned.