DSHEA compliance, what can / can’t we say in product copy, and how do you automate the review?

FDA Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act 1994 is the rulebook. Two categories:

Allowed: structure-function claims. “Supports immune health”, “helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels”, “promotes restful sleep”, “supports cognitive function”. Verbs that work: supports, helps maintain, promotes healthy, contributes to, helps support. The product is described as supporting a normal body function, not treating a disease.

Banned: disease claims. “Treats arthritis”, “cures insomnia”, “prevents heart disease”, “reduces anxiety”, “heals”, “diagnoses”. Any verb that implies treating, preventing, curing, or diagnosing a medical condition. FTC + FDA actively send warning letters with $11k+ fines per violation. Amazon Brand Registry will pull listings for these too.

Plus a mandatory disclaimer on every supplement PDP: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

How I automate review on Magento:

• Admin observer with regex flagger, on PDP save, scan description / short description / meta for banned terms (~80 patterns: treats, cures, prevents, heals, anti-inflammatory in claim context, etc.). Block save until acknowledged or rephrased.
• CMS block templates for structure-function copy, marketing team picks from approved phrasings.
• FDA disclaimer auto-rendered on every product in supplements category (template-driven, can’t be forgotten).
• Quarterly admin report of any PDP edited since last review, gets emailed to whoever owns compliance.

This is one of the highest-ROI guardrails I build for any supplements brand. One warning letter costs more than the whole feature.