Supplement Groups Move from Science to Politics as Attorneys General Probe Industry
Meetings with the attorneys general underscored that an industry selling natural products to 150 million Americans is moving beyond the science of supplements to politics.
Last month in Washington, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) conveyed for its winter meeting. State authorities from around the United States converged at the nation’s capital to discuss key legal issues ranging from marijuana regulation to antitrust matters to treating the mentally ill.
Dietary supplement regulation wasn’t on the agenda.
That didn’t stop the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) from arranging meetings with law-enforcement officials in various states just weeks after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced test results that revealed a number of products sold by national retailers failed to contain the labeled herbs and were contaminated.
“That was one step in a multistep process to try to get information out to the other 49 states," said Steve Mister, president and CEO of the supplement trade organization CRN, in a phone interview.
“The more we demonstrate to the group that supplements are in fact adequately regulated at the federal level and they can trust FDA to inspect facilities, I think the narrower the scope of this investigation will be," Mister added.
The meetings underscored that an industry selling natural products to 150 million Americans is moving beyond the science of supplements—namely whether Schneiderman’s DNA testing methodology was adequate—to politics, seeking to influence state officials who have the clout to not only take enforcement actions against an industry currently under assault but severely damage its credibility.
Through the NAAG gathering and other meetings, Mister said he and his colleagues have conversed with officials in nearly 20 states, discussing Schneiderman’s investigation and other related matters such as testing requirements in the dietary supplement industry. He declined to identify the attorneys general with whom CRN representatives have met, but Mister said his organization is targeting law-enforcement officials based on a number of criteria including interest in Schneiderman’s investigation.
“We have found the meetings to be very enlightening from our side as well," said Mister, who explained the state officials were initially focused on Schneiderman’s findings and a New York Times article that broke the story. “They are very interested in the issue of DNA testing and why it may not be appropriate. I have found they have been very open about being educated on the issue."
Schneiderman’s Coalition
It’s not clear whether such meetings helped narrow the pool of attorneys general who have formed a coalition to investigate supplements. Earlier this month, Schneiderman announced that attorneys general from Connecticut, Indiana and Puerto Rico had joined him to investigate whether the herbal supplement industry is validating marketing claims. According to a March 10 press release from his office, the coalition “seeks to enhance transparency and ensure that the herbal supplements industry is taking the steps necessary to validate their marketing claims, including as to authenticity and purity."
Schneiderman’s “initial charges were pretty dramatic, and if I were the AG and tried to put together a coalition of like-minded officials, and I had such a damning accusation, I’d be embarrassed to have so few colleagues join me," said Jeff Stier, a senior fellow at the Washington-based National Center for Public Policy Research, in a phone interview. “It’s a pretty pathetic coalition. He has access to all the AGs, and I imagine he asked all of the AGs or at least most of them, and apparently, most of them turned him down."
Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., executive director and CEO of the Natural Products Association (NPA), a nonprofit formed in 1936, pointed out a number of states that are known for taking action to protect consumers didn’t join the coalition. He cited, for instance, Illinois, Texas and California. None of the three offices responded to requests for comment on whether Schneiderman reached out to them. Liz DeBold, a spokeswoman for Schneiderman’s office, declined to comment about whether Schneiderman reached out to other attorneys general.