Washington, D.C., April 13, 2018—In response to a new guidance, “Highly Concentrated Caffeine in Dietary Supplements; Guidance for Industry; Availability,” issued today by the Food and Drug Administration, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the leading trade association for the dietary supplement and functional food industry, issued the following statement:
Statement by Steve Mister, president & CEO, CRN:
“Extremely concentrated or pure caffeine has no place in the consumer marketplace, and CRN fully supports FDA’s commitment to taking immediate steps to remove products from the marketplace that present public health concerns. Today’s announcement from FDA puts all dietary supplement stakeholders, including online retailers, on notice that highly concentrated caffeine sold in bulk to consumers is dangerous and illegal. Caffeine is one of the most studied dietary ingredients and well-established science demonstrates safe use of caffeine. Consumers have access to a whole host of dietary supplements and other over-the-counter products that are manufactured with safe amounts of caffeine.
Consumer safety is the top priority for CRN and the responsible dietary supplement industry, which is why, in 2013, we established recommended guidelines for caffeine-containing dietary supplements. The guidelines include recommendations on disclosure of total caffeine content; label advisories for conditions of use; serving size and daily intake recommendations; and restraints against marketing caffeine in combination with alcohol. In 2015, CRN updated those guidelines to include restraints against the sale and marketing of pure powdered caffeine directly to consumers.
CRN is proud to be in alignment with FDA in its efforts to protect the public from unsafe ingredients and to ensure consumer access to safe products, and we appreciate the new guidelines for providing more clarity around this critical issue. We urge all dietary supplement stakeholders to join these efforts through adherence to FDA’s guidelines as well as those established by CRN.”
Note to Editor: The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), founded in 1973, is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing 150+ dietary supplement and functional food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and companies providing services to those manufacturers and suppliers. In addition to complying with a host of federal and state regulations governing dietary supplements and food in the areas of manufacturing, marketing, quality control and safety, our manufacturer and supplier members also agree to adhere to additional voluntary guidelines as well as to CRN’s Code of Ethics. Visit www.crnusa.org. Follow us on Twitter @CRN_Supplements and LinkedIn.