The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) last week retracted portions of its report on vitamins and supplements that indicated certain products had been tested and determined not to meet their label claims. It acknowledged these accusations were based on incorrect lab results. According to CBC, some Marketplace reports about vitamins and supplements published in November contained incorrect information.

Also last week the long-anticipated PBS ‘Frontline’ episode on the dietary supplement industry aired. After CRN had kept members apprised of for months, it provided a standby response statement on its Members Only website, noting that the show had generated very little additional media coverage thus far (with the exception of the promotional PBS and New York Times stories). CRN was quoted in several industry trade press analyses of the episode—see CRN in the News.

CRN recently presented a free webinar, The Roundtable, for its members on the association’s priorities for 2016 and how to get involved. For those who missed the live webinar, or for those who wish to review the content, the slides and access to a recording are available on CRN’s Members Only website.

“Transparency” is a frequent buzzword in the industry today, often invoked as way to increase consumer trust in our products, and on Feb. 11, NutraIngredients.com is hosting an online forum examining the topic and asking what “transparency” requires. CRN’s Steve Mister is on the panel discussing transparency—why it’s en vogue, what it conveys, how marketers achieve it and how it will transform supply chains and ingredient verification, among other issues. Find out more.

CRN’s Political Action Committee (CRN PAC) requests access to member companies’ 2016 “restricted class” lists in order to communicate with those individuals about supporting the PAC. The “restricted class” simply refers to those individuals employed by a corporation who may be solicited for contributions to the trade association’s PAC and who may receive communications containing express advocacy related to political candidates from the organization or its trade associations. A company may only allow one trade association access to its restricted class per year. The restricted class of corporate executives can be defined broadly or narrowly, and CRN staff can assist with information on how companies should define their restricted class. CRN PAC’s “Access to Restricted Class” form is available for download from the Members Only website. Please contact Ingrid Lebert (202-204-7699) for more information.

State legislatures off to a busy start in 2016

From Arizona to Wyoming, the states are already active with legislation, as noted in a recent memo to CRN’s Government Relations State Subcommittee. Many states are proposing legislation that would require GMO labeling. New York is attempting to tackle adulteration by clamping down on sexual performance-enhancing dietary supplements and foods containing unsafe sexual performance food additives. Rhode Island is looking at licensure legislation that could affect those selling vitamins and supplements. See the memo for more.

FDA wants to expand its use of criminal investigation and enforcement tools to address serious safety-related violations and cases of intentional fraud, Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, M.D., noted in a recent FDA Voice blog post. Dr. Ostroff noted the agency, though challenged by the “sheer volume” of the industry, has produced significant enforcement results—seizing kratom, issuing warnings against powdered caffeine, conducting hundreds of inspections. “We have established the new Office of Dietary Supplement Programs and are working on increasing the visibility, capacity and staffing for that new office. This will include hiring permanent leadership to sharpen our focus on potential safety problems and to support regulatory actions,” Dr. Ostroff said.

Thinking about native advertising? See FTC’s new guidance

The Federal Trade Commission recently issued its long-awaited guidance on “native advertising”—commercial content designed with the look and feel of editorial content. The guidance comes in two documents: 1) Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements and 2) Native Advertising: Guide for Business. Although not specific to dietary supplements, the guidance is particularly relevant to supplement marketing, which has often used advertising with the appearance of editorial content, and FTC has opened investigations against several marketers of supplements who employ native advertising without appropriate disclosures and disclaimers to consumers.

“The result of ...improved transparency should make it easier for FDA to target enforcement actions at problematic products and force marketers to improve quality as they become more visible...”

—CRN's Steve Mister’s bylined article in Natural Products INSIDER, “CRN Requires Members to Register Product Labels in ODS Database”

What else did CRN have to say?

AOAC encourages supplement industry stakeholders to attend its
annual meeting Feb. 17–18, submit comments on SMPRs

Dietary supplement industry stakeholders will want to check out the agenda for AOAC’s annual meeting, with relevant symposia, including a keynote address on the relationship between scientific literacy and analytical capability; sessions on implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act in the contract laboratory; analytical challenges with consumer products; lab accreditation and more. See AOAC’s website for details and registration.

AOAC also seeks public comment on its draft Standard Method Performance Requirements (SMPRs) for collagen, lutein and turmeric—comments are due by April 29.

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 50 volunteers with type-2 diabetes consuming a daily probiotic beverage showed promise for glycemic control, positive metabolic changes. The study, published in Clinical Nutrition Journal, investigated the effects of probiotics on glycemic control, lipid profile, inflammation, oxidative stress and short chain fatty acids in those with type-2 diabetes. See study abstract.

See CRN's Research Watch for more studies.

CRN continues outreach to AGs as Rend Al-Mondhiry attends the Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) Conference; Andrea Wong presents at GOED Exchange.

JANUARY 25–28
2016 National Grassroots Conference
Orlando, FL
—Lebert

JANUARY 28–29
Member & Prospective Member Meetings
Green Bay & Madison, WI
—Mister

JANUARY 28–30
Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) Winter Policy Conference
Scottsdale, AZ
—Al-Mondhiry

FEBRUARY 2–4
GOED Exchange
Tenerife, Canary Islands
—Wong (presenting)

FEBRUARY 9–10
Member & Prospective Member Meetings
Connecticut & New Jersey
—Mister

FEBRUARY 11
NutraIngredients.com ‘Transparency’ Online Forum
—Mister (presenting)

FEBRUARY 18
IFT Food Policy Impact Meeting
Washington, DC
—Wong

FEBRUARY 25, 26, 29
Member & Prospective Member Meetings
Boise, ID & Salt Lake City, UT
—Mister

FEBRUARY 27–28
Congressman Jason Chaffetz Fundraiser
Park City, UT
—Mister

MARCH 7–10
2016 National PAC Conference
Miami Beach, FL
—Wroblewski

MARCH 9–13
Natural Products Expo West
Anaheim, CA
—Mister; Greene; Hyland

MARCH 16
CRN Executive Committee Meeting
Washington, DC
—CRN Staff

MARCH 17
CRN Board of Directors Meeting
Washington, DC
—CRN Staff

MAY 5
CRN Regulatory Summit
Bethesda, MD
— MacKay; Griffiths; Wong; Nguyen

MAY 24–25
CRN Communications and Media Outreach Committee
In-Person Meeting
New York City
—Blatman; Powers; Weindruch; Eischen; Lewis

JUNE 7
CRN Executive Committee Meeting
Washington, DC
—CRN Staff

JUNE 8
CRN’s Day on the Hill
Washington, DC
—CRN Staff

JUNE 9
CRN Board of Directors Meeting
Washington, DC
—CRN Staff

SEE FULL CALENDAR FOR 2016, WITH DATES BEING ADDED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR