John Cordaro, president and chief executive officer of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the US trade body for supplement manufacturers and suppliers, yesterday called upon the dietary supplement industry to promote growth "by restoring consumer confidence in using dietary supplements".
Cordaro was speaking to an audience of industry executives during his annual "State of the Industry" address at the CRN 2002 Annual Conference at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort.
Cordaro said that the elements of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) suitable for supporting a positive regulatory environment for responsible manufacturers may not survive unless the industry takes immediate action.
According to Cordaro, while the industry has "squandered the legacy and the opportunities that the 1990s provided", he is confident that the industry can still achieve success. "DSHEA should not have been seen as an endpoint but rather as a new beginning," he said.
He called for better definition of an enforceable regulatory framework for companies to responsibly manufacture and market dietary supplements. This would require four key components, according to Cordaro. First, the development of a transparent system and process for assessing the safety of each ingredient used in dietary supplements and requiring that safety assessments be completed before the ingredient is marketed.
Also required was a rational basis for product formulation by demanding credible scientific evidence on each specific ingredient and combination of ingredients in sufficient amounts to both achieve the benefit implied or claimed and to avoid the risk of adverse effects due to excessive intakes.
There should also be standards and guidelines for science-based substantiation for all information and claims about the benefits of dietary supplement products and supporting actions as required. Finally, all dietary ingredients and dietary supplement products should be required to be manufactured under rigorous good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and quality standards, with appropriate, useful certification to consumers.
"CRN and its members believe affirmative self-regulation is the proper way to complement aggressive regulatory enforcement," said Cordaro.
He continued: "The CRN staff is ready to move forward and work together with you to achieve our mission to help create an environment for responsible companies to grow by restoring consumer confidence in dietary supplements. Only in this way can we hope to return to our earlier days of golden opportunities-double-digit growth and positive scientific results supported by our industry."