Washington, D.C.—The Supplement Safety & Compliance Initiative (SSCI) announced the first company to meet its new safety and benchmarking standards: Natural Alternatives International (NAI). Established in 2015, SSCI is a joint effort by leading nutritional supplement retailers (including Walmart and GNC) in collaboration with the Natural Products Association (NPA) and its members, to set globally harmonized benchmarking standards for natural products.
“SSCI is a retailer-led initiative looking to establish the guidance and thought systems necessary to ensure quality, authenticity, safety, and cGMP compliance needed to reduce safety risk," said SSCI Board Member Sudipta Veeramachaneni, Ph.D., Vice President of Global Research & Development & Innovation for GNC, in a press release.
Dadrion Gaston, Senior Director Corporate Compliance, Health & Wellness Product & Supply Chain Safety for Walmart, and a Board Member of SSCI, added, “SSCI brings some of the largest retailers, raw material manufacturers and suppliers, dietary supplement manufacturers, and other stakeholders together to assist in strengthening safeguards and helping to ensure regulatory compliance from harvest to retailer shelf.
Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., President and CEO of NPA, extended his thanks to all who participated in the effort. “This bold first step is what will maintain consumer confidence globally and will lay the foundation for future audits. We’re extremely grateful to every member of the group who worked hard to pull this together.”
The goal for SSCI, Dr. Fabricant explained: to establish a system with the understanding that that the FDA can’t solve all our problems. “Instead, we’re going to show consumers and regulators that they can have confidence in the industry, and this industry-wide effort is how we are going to do that.”
Related: NPA Launches Game-Changing SSCI Initiative NPA to FDA: Take Action Against Economic Adulteration The Natural View: Talking Certifications & Amazon Compliance
Companies interested in the SSCI process and retailers interested in knowing who has participated in SSCI can find that information here.
