High-level dietary supplement industry regulators from both the FDA and FTC and a distinguished faculty of legal experts will convene in New York City at The Andaz Hotel June 27–28 for the highly anticipated Fourth Annual Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance Forum on Dietary Supplements presented by CRN with the American Conference Institute (ACI). In addition, attendees can choose optional workshops on June 28 and 29. The full agenda for the forum, co-chaired by CRN’s Steve Mister and Scott Bass, partner at Sidley Austin LLP, is now available. Highlights include... Read more...

CRN’s Duffy MacKay last week described how responsible industry helps ensure botanical dietary supplements are safe for consumers during a workshop held by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Toxicology Program (NTP). In his presentation, Dr. MacKay illustrated the supplement safety paradigm as a three-legged stool, supported by fastidious ingredient selection, good manufacturing practices and post-market surveillance. Read more...

The California court’s ruling in the Mateel case that ended the group’s challenge to safe harbor levels under Prop 65 is “rare good news for businesses on Prop 65,” CRN Associate Member Arnold & Porter LLP noted in an article on its “Seller Beware” consumer protection law blog. “But [businesses] cannot let down their guard and will need to continue to address challenges on multiple fronts in the coming months.” Read more...

Vitamin D status in study participants is a key component of any research that is conducted to investigate the relationship between vitamin D and health outcomes, the association’s Andrea Wong noted in comments submitted to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on its “Draft Research Plan for Vitamin D, Calcium, or Combined Supplementation for the Primary Prevention of Fractures in Adults.” CRN recommends that vitamin D status be the focus of the proposed research plan rather than merely focusing on the amount of Vitamin D administered. CRN’s comments emphasized that the draft’s focus on the role of vitamin D and/or calcium supplementation in fractures and fracture-related morbidity and mortality, instead of vitamin D status misses the mark and Dr. Wong recommends a shift in the research approach. For more information, contact Andrea Wong (202-204-7660).

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) recently visited with CRN member company Stratum Nutrition at the eFactory at Missouri State University, an entrepreneurship center supported by Stratum joint venture partner ESM Ingredients, along with other companies, to encourage innovation and help entrepreneurs and businesses in southwest Missouri start, grow, and accelerate their companies. (See the eFactory’s April 22 tweet). Read more...   

CRN’s annual lobbying event—Day on the Hill 2016—takes place on Wednesday, June 8, in Washington, DC, and is less than two months away.  See more on CRN’s Members Only website. CRN is expecting a record turnout, including many new CRN member participants—RSVP at your earliest opportunity with Anthony Wroblewski (202-204-7677).

Last week at a press conference on Capitol Hill, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on FDA to ban the retail sale and marketing of bulk powdered caffeine. CRN’s Steve Mister supports the ban, explaining in coverage from Natural Products INSIDER, “FDA should use the authority and the tools that it has to remove pure powdered caffeine from the consumer marketplace. There is no reason why consumers need to have access to large quantities of pure caffeine.” However, Mr. Mister noted a key caveat that FDA should be careful to not inadvertently restrict wholesalers’ ability to sell in business–to-business transactions to other companies who make finished products from the bulk caffeine. CRN previously stated its support for FDA’s action to prevent consumer access to pure powdered caffeine in September 2015, having updated the association’s own guidelines for its members caffeine-containing products in March 2015. In addition, CRN’s Rend Al-Mondhiry spoke on a recent INSIDER podcast on caffeine product labeling and safety.

CRN continues to monitor state legislation concerning GMOs, most recently providing its Government Relations State Subcommittee with a follow up report on nine current bills that have passed, or are close to passing—many of which would not pose an immediate threat, but one to keep an eye on is Connecticut HB 5300. More information, including a spreadsheet of current state GMO legislation, is available on CRN’s Members Only website.

“I think this is a case of unbalanced journalism. To try to lump all supplements together and say they are useless is pretty silly because they are such a broad category...”

—CRN’s Duffy MacKay in NutraIngredientsUSA.com “Observers say Harvard anti­supplements article so poorly done as to be 'embarrassing'”

What else did CRN have to say?

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), a CRN Associate Member company, is presenting a seminar on ensuring quality control (QC) operations are in compliance with the dietary supplement good manufacturing practice (GMP) requirements June 2 in Rockville, Maryland.  Offered as a classroom or a webcast, the seminar is available to CRN members with a 20 percent discount with promotion code: USPGMPDTSUP01.  Prior to the seminar, USP is presenting a free webinar “Overview of Dietary Supplement Regulation in the United States” on May 19.  For more information, contact USP’s Luis Perez (301-230-6361).

CRN Associate Member Covance is holding a free educational lunch event, New Analytical Tools to Protect Your Supply Chain, on Monday, June 20, in Whippany, New Jersey, with CRN’s Jim Griffiths on the agenda and on Thursday, June 23, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, with CRN’s Andrea Wong. Topics include: the importance of analytical competence in today’s marketplace; using risk assessment for developing customized contaminant testing programs; and advanced screening—a new tool for detecting adulteration. Further details and registration available here.

Probiota Americas has teamed up with the International Probiotics Association (IPA) to combine the IPA World Congress and Probiota Americas for a joint conference in Chicago, Illinois, May 31–June 2. CRN’s Andrea Wong will attend and IPA has extended its 25 percent member discount to the meeting to CRN members with the code: IPA25. For more information, contact Andrea Wong (202-204-7660).

CRN’s educational and networking events for the dietary supplement industry, The Workshop and The Conference, will take place Oct. 26–29 at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, in Dana Point, California. A variety of sponsorships are available, giving all companies the opportunity to support CRN and get exposure among top supplement industry executive. See the 2016 Sponsorship Prospectus for details and contact Carl Hyland to secure your sponsorship (202-204-7674).

Nitrate-rich (NR) supplements can enhance exercise performance by improving neuromuscular function and the aerobic cost of exercise. A study recently published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, involved 14 resistance-trained men who participated in a randomized, double-blind, crossover experiment. Subjects consumed an NR beetroot extract–based supplement or nitrate-poor (NP) supplement for three days, performed a bout of heavy resistance exercise, completed a washout, and then repeated the procedures with the remaining supplement. Nitrate-rich supplementation resulted in lower initial muscle firing rates at rest and lower mean and maximum firing rates over the course of fatiguing exercise. See study abstract for more information.

See CRN's Research Watch for additional studies.

CRN’s inaugural Regulatory Summit takes place May 5, CRN’s Carl Hyland at Vitafoods Europe, and more...

MAY 4
Advertising for Associations Seminar
Washington, DC
—Al-Mondhiry (presenting)

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

MAY 10–12
Vitafoods Europe
Geneva, Switzerland
—Hyland

MAY 11–23
Democratic Attorneys General Association
Boston, MA
—Al-Mondhiry

MAY 23–25
National Association of Attorneys General Spring Consumer Protection Meeting
Washington, DC
—Al-Mondhiry

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

MAY 31–JUNE 2
Probiota Americas
Chicago, IL
—Wong

JUNE 1
USP Dietary Supplements Stakeholder Panel
Rockville, MD
—Griffiths

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

JUNE 8
ODS Dietary Supplement Research Practicum
Bethesda, MD
—Mister (presenting)

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

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

JUNE 13–11
NBJ Summit
Dana Point, CA
—Mister; Hyland

JUNE 14
ABA Section of Litigation Food & Supplements Sixth Annual Workshop
Purchase, NY
—Al-Mondhiry (presenting)

JUNE 27–29
CRN/ACI Legal & Regulatory Conference
New York City
—CRN Staff

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