Recent AHPA Advocacy

In comments submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week, AHPA continued to encourage the agency to expand its use of its crop grouping regulations by including more botanical commodities in two proposed new crop groups to help ensure that all of the minor crop botanical commodities marketed in the U.S. are covered by federal regulations.

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has assessed an article issued today by Consumer Reports (CR) on its analytical review of 16 echinacea and 13 turmeric products. AHPA has found that CR relied on arbitrary or internal standards for its analysis, apparently in order to support its preconceived view of herbal supplements, expressed by repeating in today’s article the false myth of ‘lack of regulation’ of dietary supplements.

FDA announced today that, during the first six months following the general January 1, 2020, compliance date for the new nutrition labeling regulations for conventional foods and dietary supplements, it plans to work cooperatively with manufacturers to meet the new requirements and will not focus on enforcement actions during that time. Note that manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales already had an extra year to comply – until January 1, 2021.

This week, the four leading trade associations representing the U.S. dietary supplement industry joined forces to urge Congress to take action to ensure consumer safety and provide legal clarity in the cannabidiol (CBD) product marketplace. In a letter, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), and United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) called on Congress “to pass legislation to clarify that CBD derived from the hemp plant is a lawful dietary ingredient if the dietary supplement containing the CBD meets established product safety and quality criteria.”

AHPA joined 12 leading trade associations to advocate FDA to provide flexibility in its enforcement of the new nutrition labeling rules as the January 1, 2020 compliance date approaches. In a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Ned Sharpless, the associations, acting as the Food & Beverage Issue Alliance, requested FDA to to provide a six-month period of enforcement discretion following the compliance date.

AHPA President Michael McGuffin and Chief Science Officer Holly Johnson, Ph.D. presented at the AOAC International 133rd Annual Meeting and Exposition to help the organization further develop analytical methods for botanicals used in herbal supplements.

Recall data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows that 14 of 803 (1.7 percent) recorded recalls initiated in 2019 involved dietary supplements, and among these, three were Class I recalls (the most serious recall class), according to an article published in the August 2019 AHPA Report.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis rallied more than 200 hemp farmers, manufacturers, producers, retailers, and industry professionals during his keynote address to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) Hemp-CBD (cannabidiol) Supplement Congress held earlier this month.

The AHPA Foundation for Education and Research on Botanicals (AHPA ERB Foundation) has committed to provide financial support for the American ginseng program to be presented as part of the 2020 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, an annual 10-day event that takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Foundation is seeking matching funds from AHPA members to increase the Foundation’s support of this program.