Contamination
January 1999

Food, drugs, and dietary supplements all have the potential of becoming contaminated. Some foods (e.g., poultry, soft cheese, meat, and fish) are particularly vulnerable.

Contamination of dietary supplements is extremely rare. Only one major outbreak ever occurred in the United States. In 1989, a contaminant was introduced into a batch of tryptophan supplements imported from Japan. This led to an outbreak of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) which killed 40 Americans; an additional 1,000 were afflicted.

While this was a significant tragedy, such incidents are extremely rare when compared to other consumables. On average, fewer than two people die every year from contamination of dietary supplements. This is statistically insignificant when compared to food contamination which kills thousands of Americans every year.