The industry-wide dietary supplement registry now in development will establish a platform for further efforts, CRN’s Steve Mister explained during a recent hot-topic panel discussion, “Industry Self-Regulatory Efforts: Next Steps in Building Consumer Confidence,” at the Ingredient Marketplace conference and expo in Orlando, Florida. “While we know this registry alone will not solve all the problems in the industry, it is a necessary first step to help regulators, retailers and consumers define the universe of the reputable industry and be able to compare and evaluate products,” he said.

Other panelists added their own insights on how to demonstrate the quality of dietary supplements and provide more accountability.  

Christine Burdick-Bell, vice president and general counsel for CRN member company Pharmavite LLC, discussed the need for voluntary industry efforts to reassure consumers about the safety and quality of dietary supplements. She discussed the motivation for creating “a common measuring stick” for third-party GMP verifications to assure that all certifiers are using the same criteria and using the GMP regulations as the baseline. If a company passes one GMP certification program, it should pass them all, she observed. (A recent New Hope article highlights Ms. Burdick-Bell’s comments along with related examples of industry efforts to boost quality and transparency, including CRN’s industry-wide product registry).

Guru Ramanathan, Ph.D., chief innovation officer and senior vice president, GNC, discussed the Botanical Raw Material Quality Guidelines (BQG) and the need to impose stronger quality control efforts throughout the botanical supply chain—all the way back to the farm. He explained, at some point the product stops looking like a whole plant and becomes a powder or extract so standards for composition and identify that cover the entire manufacturing process are needed. For more information, contact Steve Mister (202-204-7676).

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