Orem • Members of Utah's dietary supplement industry were told Wednesday they need to get religion when it comes to a new set of guidelines on how the industry is to comply with a federal law governing their products.

Trade organization leaders and Sen. Orrin Hatch held a meeting at Utah Valley University in Orem with the state's industry that manufactures and sells dietary supplement products such as vitamins, mineral tablets and fruit juices.

The message was that a proposed new "guidance" from the Food and Drug Administration about ingredients in supplements was flawed and could damage the industry that is a big part of the state's economy.

"Particularly in Utah, which is a hotbed of the industry, the industry needs to be engaged," John Gay, executive director and CEO of the Natural Products Association, told reporters after the closed door meeting.

The guidance aims to follow up on a federal law, passed in 1994, that said anything already sold as a supplement is considered safe but companies adding new ingredients to products would have to submit them first to an FDA safety review.

The proposed guidance is meant to tell companies when to file new ingredient reports with the FDA and what scientific data to include. But as proposed, industry officials said it creates a lengthy procedure for even slight alterations of products even if they contain known and already proven ingredients.

"It's a good wake-up call for Utah that what goes on in Washington can have a great effect here," said Steve Mister, president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

Loren Israelsen, president of the Salt Lake City-based United Natural Products Alliance, said Utah's nutritional supplement is a $6.5-billion-a-year industry by revenue, the second-largest in Utah.

"We're very concerned right now about the economic impact of this on industry because there are so many jobs at stake here," he said.

Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association, said within the industry there's a "clear consensus the FDA has overreached on this guidance."

Hatch, who pushed through the 1994 law, said he plans to continue to meet with the FDA about the new guidance and cited a long relationship with the agency, which he said is over-reaching its regulatory abilities.

"There's a balance here that has to be made and I just want to be sure people who take supplements are safe, and they are," he said.

The senator also said he opposed a bill by Sen. Dick Durbin, R-Ill., named the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act. It would require manufacturers to disclose any known risks associated with ingredients and warnings of possible effects.

The meeting was also a chance for Hatch to try to shore up support within the industry in Utah for what might be a tough re-election campaign.

Hatch has been an industry champion for years and receives plentiful campaign donations as a result.

But he may be challenged by U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who formerly worked at Nu Skin Enterprises, one of the state's leading supplement companies.

tharvey@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tomharveysltrib