AUGUST 11, 2026
WASHINGTON — The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the leading trade association for the dietary supplement and functional food industry, welcomes the Food and Drug Administration’s focus on strengthening the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) framework, through its proposed rule announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and FDA. CRN supports science-based policies that strengthen consumer confidence and food safety while preserving access to safe, innovative nutritional products.
CRN applauds efforts to enhance transparency and ensure FDA has appropriate visibility into ingredients entering the food supply. CRN has consistently maintained that the solution is not to eliminate or to overly burden the self-GRAS pathway, which would stifle innovation and place additional demands on an under-resourced regulatory system, but rather to make companies more accountable for how they conduct self-GRAS reviews and ensure FDA is aware when ingredients enter the food supply on the basis of those determinations.
CRN and its members have already developed and shared with FDA a framework for a GRAS ingredient registry that would provide the agency with greater visibility into ingredients that have been independently affirmed as GRAS without requiring companies to abandon the self-GRAS pathway. Notably, listing elements in our framework are similar to the streamlined submission elements proposed by FDA for ingredients already on the market.
“CRN shares FDA’s commitment to consumer safety and transparency, but requiring every new GRAS determination to be evaluated by FDA would add regulatory burden, complexity, and unpredictable timelines without necessarily improving consumer safety,” said Andrea Wong, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Science Officer at CRN. “A workable approach is to ensure the existing GRAS framework is used responsibly and to give FDA the resources and enforcement tools it needs to strengthen oversight while preserving responsible innovation.”
CRN also urges FDA to reinforce national uniformity in the regulation of GRAS ingredients. A growing patchwork of state-specific GRAS requirements would create conflicting obligations for companies operating in a national marketplace, increase costs and complexity, and undermine the predictability that an effective federal food safety framework should provide. FDA should assert its role as the nation’s preeminent food safety regulator and establish a clear, science-based federal framework that provides consistent requirements for GRAS ingredients across the country.
“Consumers and industry alike benefit from a strong, predictable national regulatory framework,” Dr. Wong continued. “FDA should ensure national uniformity for GRAS ingredients rather than allow a patchwork of differing state requirements that could make it impossible to advance food safety nationally.”
CRN looks forward to carefully reviewing the proposed rule and engaging with HHS and FDA to ensure future policies are science-based, workable, and appropriately account for dietary supplements and functional foods.
About CRN: The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), founded in 1973 and based in Washington, D.C., is the leading trade association representing the dietary supplement and functional food industry. Bringing together manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and service providers, CRN unites its member companies around a shared commitment to science, transparency, and responsible business practices—advancing a strong, credible marketplace that supports consumer health and industry growth.
In an increasingly complex regulatory and media environment, CRN serves as the industry’s front line—shaping science-based policy, defending market access, and countering misinformation. Through strategic advocacy, self-regulatory leadership, voluntary guidelines, and evidence-based communications, CRN ensures that responsible companies are recognized, protected, and positioned to innovate and compete. Learn more at crnusa.org and follow @CRN_Supplements on X and LinkedIn.