2019: The CBD Saga Begins

After much anticipation, Congress passed an $867 million Farm Bill, which legalized industrial hemp and provided funding for the National Organic Program. FDA quickly put a damper on the excitement, announcing that cannabidiol (CBD) was still illegal in foods and dietary supplements. Fast forward to 2024: Regulatory uncertainty surrounding CBD remains. In August 2023, several industry associations submitted responses to a bicameral Request for Information (RFI) regarding FDA regulation of CBD. Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Natural Products Association (NPA), outlined the association's position on the matter: “For more than five years, Americans have been asking the FDA to make a safety determination for CBD…Instead of using existing regulatory authority, FDA has resisted fulfilling their mandate for years and is now chasing the fantasy of a ‘center’ for hemp and cannabis products that would mimic the Center for Tobacco Products. Through DSHEA, Congress has provided the FDA with broad authority to review safety data for new dietary ingredients like CBD to enter commerce. Our proposal demonstrates that putting a clock on FDA to use existing authority is the most efficient and straightforward pathway for public health and to stabilize a robust marketplace for dietary supplements and foods containing CBD.”

At WholeFoods Magazine: Since 1977, WholeFoods has been delivering quality content in print with features monthly, and in 2019 we shifted more attention to bringing you the education and information you want in the ways you want it most. That included increasing the frequency of our In The Know e-newsletters from once weekly to four times weekly, with targeted newsletters for Grocery, Dietary Supplements, and Suppliers, as well as our all-in-one newsletter with all the latest content. We also expanded our podcast, The Natural View, which is now available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

2020: COVID-19 Shuts the World Down…the Natural Products Industry Delivers

Fear and uncertainty gripped the world as the novel coronavirus spread, shuttering businesses and keeping people isolated. Essential frontline workers shared their experiences in our December 2020 Person of the Year feature, in which we spotlighted the heroes throughout our industry who made a positive impact. Natural retailers, brands, and suppliers stepped up, providing care, products, and support when it was needed more.  And when that work was threatened, industry leaders made their voices heard. As lockdowns went into place, with orders varying across the country, businesses scrambled to find out where they stood. In April, NPA reported that in Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered health food stores to close, which NPA successfully argued would restrict consumer access to a range of essential products available at health food stores. During the pandemic, Vitamin Angels’ Howard Schiffer encouraged industry members: “This is our time to rise to the occasion and remind everyone how important our work is. Although none of us have any prior experience with a pandemic and it’s all happening in real time, it’s very important that we respond quickly and keep our focus on our work. For Vitamin Angels, this means getting our nutrition interventions to the communities who need it most, so that we can help mitigate the long-term impacts of COVID-19.”

At WholeFoods Magazine: When it was announced that Natural Products Expo West would be canceled due to the pandemic, we knew it was essential to keep the education and networking going in the absence of in-person trade shows. We teamed up with Industry Transparency Center (ITC) to bring you the Naturally Informed virtual conference series. We kicked the series off with Immune Health, featuring keynote presentations by Mark Hyman, M.D., and more world-class experts. Our next event, Supply Chain & Delivery Systems: Mastering the Market, takes place February 28-29 (registration is open and available at no cost thanks to our sponsors, at NaturallyInformed.net).

2021: NAC Comes Under Fire

In 2021, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) reported that 4 in 5 Americans use dietary supplements, according to its survey. As the regulatory uncertainty surrounding CBD dragged on, another supplement got flagged by FDA: N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). CRN, NPA and other industry groups fought against FDA’s assertion that companies could not market products containing NAC as dietary supplements because the ingredient was first approved as a drug. NPA even filed a lawsuit against the FDA on the matter, but withdrew it in 2022 after FDA issued guidance on enforcement discretion for the sale and distribution of NAC as long as the product does not make claims to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease. 

At WholeFoods Magazine: As the COVID-19 pandemic stretched on and in-person events continued to be canceled, we stepped up to ensure natural products retailers could still connect with brands and get samples of products to keep their selection fresh. As WholeFoods Publisher Heather Wainer explained when we launched the initiative, "One of the many opportunities retailers are lacking now is samples, which they depend upon. We knew we had to help here. After some work, we've found the right way to do it, and are ecstatic that we can provide a sample box filled with new and old favorites to 300 of our readers for free." The initiative is such a hit that we’ve kept it going! 

2022: Mandatory Product Listing Debate Intensifies

In 2019, FDA suggested that a mandatory listing requirement for dietary supplements “could provide significant benefits by improving transparency” and help ID “bad actors who put the public at risk and undermine consumer confidence in the entire industry.” Industry leaders were split on the issue, with CRN’s Steve Mister and Michael McGuffin of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) debating the issue in WholeFoods Magazine in February 2020. The issue fell from the spotlight as COVID raged, but talks intensified again in 2022. In May of that year, AHPA reported that the dietary supplement industry will need to spend nearly $20 million initial compliance with the

Dietary Supplement Listing Act of 2022. On December 23, 2022, the House passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, an omnibus spending bill that did not include provisions establishing a mandatory product listing requirement for dietary supplements marketed in the United States. Industry leaders were split on the news, and continue to make their cases for or against today.

At WholeFoods Magazine: Another innovation that took off during the pandemic was ELi QR codes from Cornerstone For Natural, a business management software and enterprise resource planning solutions company, Comparable to QR Code technology, ELi codes are based on UPC numbers, and when scanned by a smartphone, they link to valuable content including images, nutritional information, ingredients, allergens, certifications, weights, dimensions, and more. WholeFoods partnered with Cornerstone to educate on ELi codes and to help companies throughout the supply chain use the technology to enhance their business. 

2023: Drug Preclusion is a “Front Burner” Issue as DSHEA Turns 30

As 2022 wound down and the NAC issue settled down, in the fall of 2022 FDA targeted another ingredient: NMN. CRN’s Mister said at the time: “We’ve already seen FDA’s use of drug preclusion to deny marketing of CBD in dietary supplements and to stop sales of N-acetyl-L cysteine (NAC)...The announcement this week on β-NMN just perpetuates the uncertainty around the drug preclusion issue and furthers FDA’s course of plucking individual ingredients out of the supplement marketplace without warning. Manufacturers, retailers, and consumers are left in limbo each time this happens." That limbo continued throughout 2023 and into 2024, as CRN, NPA, and others continue to fight FDA on the issue. Mister said at the close of 2023: “The agency made ‘drug preclusion’ – or as we like to call it ‘supplement exclusion’ – a front-burner issue when it determined that NMN (beta-nicotinamide mononucleotide) was precluded from being sold in dietary supplements because it had been previously studied for drug use. This ruling led to Amazon's decision to ban dietary supplements containing NMN from its platform, and left many in the industry wondering what ingredient will be targeted next. And, speaking of exclusion, let’s not forget CBD, an example of an entire class of products FDA decided to exclude from their regulatory remit. In 2024, CRN will continue to press for restoring the balance between incentives for drugs and supplement innovation, through both regulatory and legislative approaches.” NPA’s Dr. Fabricant said: “In passing the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), Congress charged the FDA to protect public health by ensuring foods are safe, wholesome, sanitary, and properly labeled. FDA's change of policy relative to the status of NAC, NMN, and other ingredients is a detriment to the entire dietary supplement industry. The situation with these ingredients is yet another example of the inconsistent way the FDA interprets DSHEA. To that end, we anticipate our lawsuit against the agency for NAC, and future action regarding agency treatment of NMN, will drive the conversation for reforming DSHEA.”

At WholeFoods Magazine: 2023 was a big year! We relaunched our website in March, bringing you a new-and-improved WholeFoodsMagazine.com. It is a huge undertaking for our small family business, but we knew that to grow, and to help you grow, this upgraded website is what we needed. We partnered with the leading B-to-B publishing website provider to bring you the best. The new website is easier to navigate, with an improved search to help you find all you are looking for to stay updated on the latest new products, regulatory news, and more in our industry. You can now choose to have a login that enables you to obtain more content targeted to your needs and interests, so you don’t miss out on any of the education and information that can help you grow your business and achieve even greater success. And in December we relaunched our SourceBook online, with a streamlined look and easier search and navigation, giving you a comprehensive guide to the industry at your fingertips! 

Plus there’s more to come in 2024! 

In addition to reporting on the latest developments in all of the top news stories this year, we will bring you two special interest e-publications, giving you a deep dive into top trending markets: The microbiome and active aging. Stay tuned!