CRN responds to NY
Attorney General

CRN first learned about actions by the New York State Attorney General (NY AG) against four major retailers selling herbal supplements at 5 p.m. on a Monday night. Following consultations with colleagues and scientists, CRN had a press statement defending the quality and safety of herbal supplements out to the press prior to the story breaking just after midnight in the New York Times. CRN’s perspective was included in numerous first day stories, including the Associated Press, Washington Post, and The Atlantic magazine.

After engaging in war-room style triage to spread the word that the DNA barcode test used by the AG’s office was an inappropriate test method for finished products made from herbal extracts, CRN engaged in numerous other activities, including: outreach to the NY AG’s office and 49 other state attorneys general; meetings with legislators on Capitol Hill; commissioning a White Paper on DNA Barcoding; creating a microsite for consumers; additional media outreach, including a published Letter to the Editor in the Washington Post and response to the additional actions taken by the NY AG. CRN continues to urge the NY AG to demonstrate the same transparency he is asking of the industry by releasing the report that served as the trigger point for his actions.

CRN support leads to new law

Perhaps the greatest threat to legitimate growth of the supplement industry is illegitimate products. Backed by responsible manufacturers who follow the myriad of laws and regulations for the supplement industry, CRN actively supported efforts on the Hill by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Reps. Joe Pitts (R-PA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) to pass the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act, a law that will protect consumers from potentially dangerous anabolic steroids falsely marketed as dietary supplements. The bill, signed into law by President Obama in December, empowers the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with new tools to identify and rapidly respond when illegal drugs in the form of new designer anabolic steroids are falsely marketed as dietary supplements.

New CRN guidelines for
prenatal supplements

In its continued efforts to tell the tale of two industries—those companies that put consumers’ health first by marketing high quality, safe and beneficial supplements versus those that flout the laws, ignoring good manufacturing practices and making outrageous claims—CRN has added to its self-regulatory principles with new voluntary guidelines for the manufacturers of multivitamin/mineral supplements intended for pregnant and lactating women in the U.S. According to CRN’s recommendations, these products should contain a daily serving of at least 150 mcg of iodine to help ensure adequate intakes of iodine to support healthy cognitive development in babies. The voluntary guidelines support the emerging science for iodine, and are in line with recommendations from authoritative medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society, and the American Thyroid Association.

CRN’s other self-regulatory “best practices” include guidelines for:

• caffeine-containing dietary supplements
• enzyme dietary supplement products
• labeling of protein in dietary supplements and functional food.

Available at: www.crnusa.org/NYAG

New positive study on multivitamins and
cardiovascular disease

CRN breathed new life into an important new government study that found a significant association in reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) among female multivitamin users versus non-users, by reaching out to the media to ensure they were aware of the study. After interviewing the study’s lead author, Reuters ran the piece on its wire, providing some positive news for supplement consumers and retailers. To reach their conclusions, the study authors analyzed data from the government’s NHANES survey, including a final study sample of 8,678 adults, 40 years and older, excluding, among others, those participants with a history of CVD. The positive conclusions were found for those who took the multivitamin supplements for three or more years. 

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