Over the past several months, legislators in a range of states have introduced bills to prohibit the sale of weight loss and muscle building products to minors. Many of these bills contain similar text and specifically mention ingredients like creatine, green tea extract, raspberry ketone, garcinia cambogia and coffee bean extract.
One such bill already became law in New York when Governor Kathy Hochul put her signature to it in 2023.
Speaking with NutraIngredients at Expo West 2025, Marriott, who is AHPA’s director of regulatory affairs, explained that many of these bills include provisions that would put a product within scope simply by being tagged or flagged as the same category as weight loss or muscle building supplements.
“So, first review all your label language, review all your marketing, [and] review how retailers are displaying your products, because if they’re on the same shelf with weight loss or muscle building products, they could wind up being restricted,” he said.
While many of the bills are similar, there are some differences among them.
“They’re all special snowflakes in their own way,” Marriott said. “One thing to particularly keep an eye out for: Some states have an exclusion for dietary fiber products, which tends to be any dietary fiber product, not detailed definition.
“And some have an exclusion for protein products but only for products that just have protein and nothing else that will put them within scope. The scope is always an open question, because the individual state government is going to functionally decide what products fall within scope. That makes compliance a real nightmare if many of these bills pass.”
Since December 2024, bills have been introduced in state houses across the nation, from Massachusetts and Maryland to Washington, Texas and Illinois. Of all the bills currently in play, Marriott is most concerned about House Bill 3027 in Illinois.
“[This bill] is going to have to move very quickly out of its initial house by early April, so we’re trying to keep a close eye on that one in particular,” he said.
STRIPED
This is the latest in a campaign of legislative efforts across the country to restrict access to certain categories of dietary supplements. The efforts reportedly originate from the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED), launched as a “public health incubator” based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Proponents of the restrictions cite a purported link between the use of such products and the worsening of eating disorders, even though a review of the scientific literature, funded by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), concluded that the “evidence to date does not support a causative role for dietary supplements in eating disorders.”
Marriott said that Professor Bryn Austin, director of STRIPED, has written several columns attacking RFK Jr. and the incoming leadership at HHS and FDA, raising concerns about the dietary supplement category.
“And that’s a really bad sign for our reputation for at least the next couple years,” he added.
Marriott said he expects more bills to be introduced in the months ahead.
Watch the video for the full interview.