The FDA reviews the dietary supplements using a different set of criteria to foods and drugs. Essentially, a manufacturer of a dietary supplement that is sold in the U.S. does not require FDA approval, unlike a medication. The role that the FDA has in assessing whether there are any false or misleading claims being made. If false advertising was suspected then the FDA can instigate legal action.
One issue that is currently causing controversy in the U.S. is, according to the Faculty of Food Safety and Quality, is that several manufacturers of coffee bean extracts state that their products are prepared in FDA approved laboratories. However, the FDA has no authority, and has clearly not, approved the facilities.
Green coffee beans are simply coffee beans that have not yet been roasted. The roasting process of coffee beans reduces amounts of the chemical chlorogenic acid (the ester of caffeic acid.) Therefore, Green coffee beans, through the virtue of not having been roasted, have a higher level of chlorogenic acid compared to regular, roasted coffee beans.
Chlorogenic acid is thought to, as the Daily Mail reports, have health benefits for heart disease, diabetes, weight loss, and others. This is based on the chlorogenic acid affecting how the body handles blood sugar and metabolism. These apparent health effects are not (yet) backed up an array of peer reviewed studies.
Green coffee beans were popularized by Dr. Oz back in 2012. He is a U.S. television “celebrity” doctor. Chlorogenic acid is marketed under the tradename Svetol, and it is sold as a standardized green coffee extract.
