April 16, 2024 – An organization representing dietary supplement makers has advised its members to update packaging of melatonin sleep supplements and other dietary gummies to help prevent children from eating the products.from the CDC warned of rising calls to poison control centers and visits to emergency rooms after infants and children ate melatonin supplements.
include Liquid I.V., Nature’s Way Brands, Nestlé Health Science, Plexus Worldwide, and SmartyPants Vitamins.“CRN urges its members and the broader industry to adopt these guidelines as soon as practicable,” aDietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA. The Mayo Clinic says melatonin supplements are “generally safe” but warns they can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, and drowsiness.
“During 2019-2022, melatonin was implicated in approximately 11,000 emergency department visits among infants and young children for unsupervised medication ingestions. Many incidents involved ingestion of flavored products ,” the report stated. “While federal regulations do not require child deterrent closures for melatonin-containing products, CRN’s revised guidelines call for industry members to adopt child deterrent packaging for products containing melatonin that are in flavored chewable forms that could be especially attractive to children,” CRN’s news release stated. “This recommendation provides parents and caregivers with a tool to prevent unsupervised access to these products.