On Apr. 22, 1976, the U.S. Congress passed the Vitamin-Mineral Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Also known as the Proxmire amendment, named after Sen. William Proxmire, D-Wisconsin, its principal sponsor

The legislation prohibited the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from establishing standards to limit the potency of vitamins and minerals in food supplements or regulating them as drugs based solely on their potency.