Comparing Existing Resources to Represent Dietary Supplements

Dietary supplements, often considered as food, are widely consumed despite of limited knowledge around their safety/efficacy and any well-established regulatory policies, unlike their drug counterparts. Informatics methods may be useful in filling this knowledge gap, however, the lack of standardized representation of DS hinders this progress. In this pilot study, five electronic DS resources, i.e., NM, DSID & NHPID (ingredient level) and DSLD & LNHPD (product level), were evaluated and compared both quantitatively and qualitatively employing four phases. Essential data elements needed for comprehensive DS representation were compiled based on LanguaL code (food) & AHFSA (drugs) guidelines and employed as a check-list. We further investigated the completeness of DS representation by incorporating Ginseng and Fish oil as examples. We found fragmented and inconsistent distribution of DS representation in terms of essential data elements across five resources. This study provides a preliminary platform for development of standardized DS terminology/ontology model.