Washington, D.C.— The Council for Responsible Nutrition Foundation (CRNF) has announced that it has pledged additional grants to the National Advertising Division (NAD), a service of the advertising industry and the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB). Now totaling over $2.1 million, these grants will extend the NAD self-regulatory program that monitors advertising for dietary supplements through 2017. The NAD program, first launched in 2006, conducts an active ad-monitoring and peer-to-peer process that allows companies a chance to voluntarily change non-compliant behavior before facing potentially serious consequences from the FTC and other law enforcement agencies. This is particularly valuable for the dietary supplement industry due to the unique challenges it faces when dealing with advertising.

In a statement, CRNF president and CEO Steve Mister remarked that he was “pleased to be able to continue our longstanding support of NAD’s dietary supplement advertising review program. It’s an important vehicle for CRN, its members, and other companies in the industry to play a key role in self-regulation.” He also explained that self-regulation supports a marketplace where consumers can be more confident in the truth and accuracy of advertising claims for dietary supplements, something of paramount importance for the industry.

More information on the NAD program, including information on how to file a competitive claim and a searchable compilation of cases to assist dietary supplement companies in avoiding misleading, non-substantiated or deceptive advertising claims is available on CRN’s website: www.crnusa.org/NAD.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, February 2015(online 1/13/15)