CRN President & CEO Steve Mister accepted the “NBJ Award for Efforts on Behalf of the Industry” last week at the NBJ Summit in Dana Point, CA. As noted earlier this year when winners were announced, the association is being recognized for seizing the opportunity to lead industry in a product registry initiative that promises to become an integral part of doing business in the dietary supplement space. In his acceptance remarks, Mr. Mister explained, “I accept this award on behalf of our member companies whose vision and passion for this industry have moved this registry forward. This effort demonstrates the power like-minded companies can have when they come together to provide more accountability and transparency for their regulators, their retailer and consumers.” CRN expects the registry to launch before the end of 2016.

More than sixty dietary supplement industry executives representing more than forty CRN member companies convened on Capitol Hill for the association’s 13th annual “Day on the Hill.” Interspersed with more than 60 individual meetings with key House and Senate offices, the full-day event featured speakers including Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Jared Polis (D-CO) and John Shimkus (R-IL), and Sens. John Boozman (R-AK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Read more...

CRN members (and the public) now have easy access to reliable data on the economic impact of the dietary supplement industry in the U.S.—and the impact is significant. According to the new economic study issued by CRN, the dietary supplement industry contributes $121.6 billion to the U.S. economy, creates 754,645 jobs nationwide, and pays $38.4 billion in wages. Read more...

The highly anticipated CRN/ACI Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance Forum on Dietary Supplements, takes place next week, June 27–28, in New York City.  Register now and use the following code for a 10% discount off: P10-669-CRN16 (for CRN members only). This event includes sessions with top enforcement officials including: Steven Tave, acting director, of the newly designated Office of Dietary Supplement Programs at FDA; Scott Kaplan, associate chief counsel, at the agency; and Michelle Rusk, with FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices. Read more..

CRN recently launched a new content-driven initiative, "Supplement Facts," a series of short, easy-to-understand facts about dietary supplement science, regulation, health care cost savings, consumer usage, and the industry’s economic impact. The weekly Supplement Facts box will be featured on the CRN website, highlighted in this newsletter, distributed to our member companies and retailer contacts via email, shared through CRN’s social media channels—accompanied with the hashtag #SupplementFacts—and we hope you will share it, too. Find out more.

CRN members interested in keeping up-to-date on all things Government Relations will want to download the new Government Relations Advocacy App, sponsored by CRN member Pharmavite LLC. Available for download in the Apple App Store (iPhone) and the Google Play Store (Android), the app has features to be used throughout the year (more information on how to download is available here). CRN’s position statements, briefing materials, congressional biographies and advocacy tools are all included. Learn more about the app on CRN’s Members Only website.

The Senate last week passed the bipartisan FY 17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without the dietary supplement amendment originally filed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). The amendment would have required supplements sold on military bases to have a third party certification endorsed by FDA, which CRN opposed. See CRN’s Members Only website for details.

FDA will host a webinar on Monday, June 27, to review the Nutrition Facts Labeling Final Rules and what industry needs to know about the changes to Nutrition Facts labels and serving sizes. Last month, FDA announced the new Nutrition Facts label to reflect the latest in nutrition science and include additional nutrient information. Registration for the webinar is not required, but additional information about how to access the webinar can be found on the webinar page.

• CRN recently submitted comments to FDA on fixed-combination and co-packaged drugs, urging the agency to remove discussion of dietary supplements from the proposed rule entirely. The rule seeks to harmonize the fixed combination and co-packaged drug regulations for prescription drugs and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. CRN says concerns about a particular product should be addressed by the agency on a case-by-case basis. The association’s comments to FDA were covered in an Inside Health Policy article.
  
  
• CRN submitted comments to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment (OEHHA) on modified proposed Proposition 65 regulations regarding clear and reasonable warnings. CRN’s comments focus on the need for additional clarification regarding required warnings for food exposures. In addition, CRN signed on to CalChamber’s comments.

CRN’s International Trade and Market Development Committee (ITMDC) information center on the association’s Members Only website has a new area highlighting updates on World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) notifications. CRN’s Jim Griffiths is monitoring all food-related notifications and will present those most relevant to the CRN members on the information center. The latest involves energy products in the United Arab Emirates. In addition to the WTO TBT notifications, the information center houses documents from Codex, International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA), and more. For more information, contact Jim Griffiths (202-204-7662).

“The dietary supplement industry is a robust industry, and this new economic analysis further demonstrates the important and positive impact our industry has on people’s lives.”

—CRN’s Steve Mister in NutraIngredients.com, “CRN: Dietary supplements industry contributes $122 billion, 750K jobs to US economy”

Natural Products INSIDER, Nutritional Outlook, “The Tan Sheet,” and Vitamin Retailer also covered the news

What else did CRN have to say?

Results of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) published in the British Journal of Medicine show supplementation with the amino acid l-Citrulline provides a protective effect against increased cardiac afterload during physical stress. The study included 16 overweight men who randomly received either 6 grams of l-Citrulline per day or placebo, for a period of 14 days. The results demonstrate that l-Citrulline attenuates aortic blood pressure and other cardiovascular stress responses to exercise. See study abstract for more information.

See CRN's Research Watch for additional studies.

CRN/ACI Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance Forum on Dietary Supplements—and more—take place this month...

JUNE 20
Covance/CRN seminar: New Analytical Tools to Protect Your Supply Chain
Whippany, NJ
—Griffiths (presenting)

JUNE 21–23
NAAG Summer Meeting
Burlington, VT
—Al-Mondhiry

JUNE 21
Retailer Meetings with WalMart and Sam's Club
Bentonville, AR
—Mister

JUNE 22
Retailer Meeting with Walgreens
Deerfield, IL
—Mister

JUNE 23
Covance/CRN seminar: New Analytical Tools to Protect Your Supply Chain
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
—Wong (presenting)

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

JUNE 27–JULY 2
Codex Alimentarius Commission Meeting
Rome, Italy
—Griffiths

JULY 17–20
Conference of Western Attorneys General
Sun Valley, ID
—Al-Mondhiry

JULY 24–28
Toxicology Forum 40th Annual Summer Meeting
Salt Lake City, UT
—Griffiths (presenting)

JULY 27
CRN’s Government Relations Committee Teleconference
Washington, DC
—Greene; Lebert; Wroblewski

JULY 27–30
American Association of Naturopathic Physicians 2016 Annual Convention & Exhibition: A Diversified Experience
Salt Lake City, Utah
—MacKay

AUGUST 14–16
Sen. Hatch / Utah Charities Golf Tournament
Park City, UT
—Lebert

SEPTEMBER 15–16
3rd Semi-Annual Food Labeling: Evolving Regulatory Compliance Conference
Alexandria, VA
—Wong

SEPTEMBER 18–20
RAPS Regulatory Convergence
San Jose, CA
—MacKay (presenting)

SEPTEMBER 20
CRN Executive Committee Meeting
Baltimore, MD
—CRN Staff

SEPTEMBER 21
CRN Board of Directors Meeting
Baltimore, MD
—CRN Staff

SEE FULL CALENDAR