Earlier this year, CRN surveyed our membership to determine what we are doing well and where you want us to improve. For the next several months, each issue of The Report will update you on what you told us, and what steps CRN is taking to respond to your direction.
This week's comments:
CRN members value the CRN Annual Consumer Survey for detailed consumer usage data on the dietary supplement marketplace.
Members told us they appreciate that CRN’s Annual Consumer Survey provides nuanced insights to help them develop new products and effective marketing campaigns. Members believe “consumer insights are essential for our collective success.” The data from the CRN Annual Survey also enhance the ability of the sales and marketing teams of members to develop fact-based promotions to their customers, including the leading national retailers.
What we’re doing to get even better:
This year, CRN will add a 20+ page Consumer Insights Report, in addition to the 1,000+ pages of consumer data. The detailed, cross-tabulated data became available as of Oct. 24, 2018. The new Consumer Insights Report will be released Q1 2019. The cost of this self-funded, longitudinal survey is just $4,000 (purchasers receive both the raw data and the new Consumer Insights Report), and is available only to CRN members. Click here to learn more.
You asked CRN to use its staff—with its depth in science, regulatory affairs, international trade, communications and government—to provide more leadership in probiotics.
Members told us you regard probiotics as fundamental to both dietary supplements and functional food, and that you expect continued explosive growth in this category. You believe that the complexity of the scientific and regulatory issues around probiotics will attract intense focus in both the U.S. and throughout the world. You want CRN to take an active leadership role in this emerging market.
What we’re doing to get even better:
1. Advocating to FDA.
CRN has advocated for the acceptance of CFUs (colony forming units) as the appropriate unit of measure for probiotics over the past several years and will continue to engage with FDA on this important issue. CFUs give consumers the best information possible when it comes to the viable microorganisms present in the product throughout shelf life.
CRN made progress this year when we submitted comments regarding FDA’s probiotics draft guidance. FDA announced it will allow CFU on product labels—but in addition to, but not in place of, weight. Listing the weight of probiotic contents does not provide consumers with useful information for comparing probiotic products and making buying decisions. So, we continue to push forward to educate the agency.
2. Shaping international regulations on probiotics.
Meanwhile, CRN is working to assure probiotics are not negatively impacted internationally. As a member of the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA), and an official NGO at Codex, CRN has provided comments on an Argentinian discussion paper at Codex proposing probiotic guidelines for use in foods and dietary supplements. In its current draft, the guidelines would create a “positive list” of approved probiotic strains and set unattainable standards for clinical trials. CRN worked in cooperation with the International Probiotics Association (IPA) to review and shape a proposal to Codex for new work on harmonized guidelines for the use of probiotics in dietary supplements and food.
3. Promoting probiotics benefits.
CRN will continue to support the science and benefits of probiotics, including in our communication with the media, promotion of emerging research, and defending probiotics against inaccurate or unfair news reports.
To make this an ongoing conversation, please tell us additional areas on which you want CRN to focus. Send your thoughts to:
Carl Hyland Senior Director, Membership Development, chyland@crnusa.org