CRN Grants $500K To NAD For Increased Dietary Supplement Monitoring
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
CRN is committing nearly half a million dollars over a three year period to triple the annual number of dietary supplement cases reviewed by the Council of Better Business Bureaus' National Advertising Division (NAD)
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UNPA "Advertiser Beware" Seminar In Brief
Oregon DOJ advises on avoiding substantiation trouble: To avoid receiving a dietary supplement substantiation claim request from Oregon's Department of Justice, companies should build a firewall between their marketing and claims substantiation departments. At the United Natural Products Alliance's Sept. 24 seminar on advertising regulations, Oregon DOJ attorney David Hart said in a recent case a company official in charge of claims substantiation also worked with the marketing department. "You see the conflict of interest here? That's just untenable," said Hart, who is in charge of financial fraud/consumer protection. "A person who does the substantiation review should be uncontaminated." Best practices include reaching outside a firm for substantiation, such as to independent academic medical centers, and having substantiation ready before it is requested. "Don't send me a box full of Internet studies. If I ask you for substantiation and you just throw a bunch of studies in a box, I know you don't know what you're talking about," Hart added. Having information ready indicates a company is acting in good faith, even if the government disagrees with the research findings, he said. Additionally, substantiation materials should be updated regularly to remain current with research
CRN extends NAD grant for ad review
The Council for Responsible Nutrition and the National Advertising Review Council extend through October 2014 their supplement advertising review program established in 2006, according to a Nov. 9 release (1"The Tan Sheet" Sept. 25, 2006). Under the extension, the recently established CRN Foundation incrementally will grant $959,000 to NARC's National Advertising Division beginning Nov. 1. "This initiative reflects one of the CRN Foundation's objectives - 'to promote truthful and non-misleading advertising of dietary supplements to consumers through programs that encourage self-regulation of advertising by industry members,'" said CRNF Executive Director Steve Mister, also the trade group's president and CEO. Mister called on dietary supplement firms to "file competitive challenges with NAD when they see dietary supplement advertisements that" disserve the industry. NAD Director Andrea Levine said, "With CRN's support, we have demonstrated that self-regulation can play an active and visible role in combating misleading and unsubstantiated dietary supplement claims, but there is still significant work left to be done.
Supplement Claim Review Program Sees Cooperation, NAD Says
The National Advertising Division says its targeted review of dietary supplement advertising claims is increasing compliance, with most firms cooperating