Les compléments alimentaires à base de plantes : un nécessaire besoin de sécurité

The sell of herbal dietary supplements is booming. These products benefit by the strong confidence of consumers in their safety of use and their consumption rely to the notion of a health benefit. Their status of foodstuff allows them to be distributed without any official scientific evaluation before commercialisation. However, examples issued from scientific literature point out that some plants eventually used in dietary supplements are involved in adverse effects which can be serious. Considering the growing exposure of the population, it is necessary to control the security of use of these products in an optimal way. Measures as the realisation of an information campaign, the output of a sanitary vigilance, and the setting of a voluntary consensus for industrial good practices could provide better guarantees of security.