Makers of melatonin supplements have 18 to 24 months to voluntarily add child-deterrent packaging and improve cautionary language on labels of over-the-counter products, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the leading trade association for the dietary supplement and functional food industry. Demand for melatonin, which is a hormone produced by the brain in response to darkness, has skyrocketed over the last decade, according to experts.
While the vast majority of unsupervised melatonin ingestions did not result in hospitalization, the number of accidental ingestions by children 5 and under may be underestimated, the report said. Some melatonin gummies state on the label that they also contain CBD, even though it’s “currently illegal to market CBD by adding it to a food or labeling it as a dietary supplement,” according to the US Food and Drug Administration.