A week in the life... of CRN

EXCERPTED FROM PRESIDENT & CEO STEVE MISTER'S LETTERS TO MEMBERS AND INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS

MAY 8, 2026

From time to time, many of you ask me for help justifying your company’s investment in CRN. This week has been particularly emblematic of the range of work we do at CRN to protect and advance the dietary supplement and functional food industry, including your company. If you have questioned whether your company is getting a return on investment for its CRN membership, keep reading:

• This past weekend, a delegation of CRN members and staff participated in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ annual meeting. In addition to presenting a standing-room-only educational workshop titled “Optimizing Prenatal Nutrition and Supplementation: Evidence-Informed Strategies in Clinical Practice,” we hosted the CRN Foundation’s Prenatal Nutrition Center on the show floor to further educate hundreds of OB/GYNs about the critical nutrition needs during pregnancy and how prenatal supplements can help close those gaps. Andrea Wong’s byline, From Standing Room Only to Standard of Care, provides details.
   
• On Monday, CRN announced that a coalition of respected organizations has, at our urging, filed amicus curiae briefs in support of CRN’s writ of certiorari petition before the United States Supreme Court. We continue our fight to challenge, on First Amendment grounds, a New York law that restricts the sale of certain dietary supplements to minors based solely on what is said about a product rather than product safety. Even as we battle similar legislation in nearly a dozen states this year, we are keeping the legal fight to protect your commercial speech right to make truthful and lawful claims for your products without reprisal. 
   
• On Tuesday, CRN filed a citizen petition with FDA requesting clarity on the placement of the DSHEA disclaimer on product labels and swift action through a Direct Final Rule to confirm the agency’s decision. We’ve heard from many of our CRN members that FDA’s December announcement of enforcement discretion simply did not go far enough to forestall class action litigation, so we are following up with a request for a formal, expedited rule. 
   
• On Tuesday, we also launched “Sergeant Searchlight,” a new advocacy campaign directed to Members of Congress and their staff (as well as industry and other stakeholders) to build understanding and support for a mandatory registry of dietary supplement labels. The initiative uses a comic-book superhero who symbolizes transparency and visibility in the dietary supplement marketplace. Its light-hearted nature invites conversations about serious concerns: consumers may not know which products are legitimate; regulators lack visibility into all marketed supplements; and bad actors can operate more easily in the “aisle of darkness.” Don’t forget to “like” and repost our message.
   
• Every week, CRN pushes back on multiple media stories that malign supplements or promote misinformation about the industry. Since Monday, we have responded to:
   
  • Jon Oliver’s segment on Last Week Tonight on so-called “gas station drugs” by pointing out that the problem is not DSHEA; it’s the bad actors who ignore those requirements. “There are also people who ignore tax laws, securities laws, and the instruction manuals for IKEA furniture.” The solution is more consistent and aggressive enforcement by FDA, and tools like the mandatory registry to make it easier to identify the bad guys.
     
  • An article on Today.com, titled “The One Supplement that Should be Locked Up…,” raised superfluous anxiety about iron supplements; CRN reminded readers that these products are already required by federal regulation to use child-resistant packaging.
     
  • A story on CNBC touting transdermal patches as supplements when they are not really supplements at all. We posted that these products are being marketed with supplement-like claims while avoiding the very labeling structure legitimate dietary supplements must follow — including the required Supplement Facts panel consumers rely on for transparency. These products should not simply exist in a gray area marketed alongside lawful dietary supplements. “FDA already has the authority. What’s needed is consistent enforcement and clearer regulatory boundaries.”
     
  • A new piece on Yahoo blaming weight management supplements for the increase in eating disorders. After pointing out how misleading the article is, we reminded readers that “Blaming supplements for that is like blaming sneakers for overtraining injuries.”
     
• On Thursday, we pushed back on multiple state bills that would prohibit certain ingredients, require additional disclosure or labeling, or restrict sales of products to those over 18. They all create inconsistent regulatory frameworks from one state to another. So we spent some time promoting new legislation establishing federal preemption intended to preserve a consistent national framework for dietary supplement regulation.
   
• And in late breaking news on Thursday afternoon, the Court of International Trade struck down the 10 percent tariff imposed in February, which will impact the levies collected since then. So in addition to helping our members get tariff refunds on the earlier assessments, today CRN will be alerting our members to these developments and helping them navigate the tariff uncertainties ahead.

And that just scratches the surface. In addition to all of this activity, CRN continues its efforts on other fronts as well, including the ongoing work to define a dietary substance, educating our members on new alternatives to animal testing, preparing for our upcoming Legal & Regulatory Conference in New York City in June, and building the case for including dietary supplement purchases in Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts.

Now, not every week at CRN is like this one, but every week we are working hard for our members.  See our quarterly reports and 2025 annual report for more.

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