The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) has responded to a recent commentary appearing in the Military Times and other publications that called for a centralized reporting system in the military for adverse events reported by dietary supplement users.

CRN President and CEO Steve Mister advised, “CRN enthusiastically agrees we all have a role in ensuring that supplements are safe for all consumers, including military personnel. Our comprehensive guide to choosing supplements includes advice such as being careful about how and where one purchases supplements, reading labels, learning about the products and ingredients and consulting a doctor before adding a new supplement to a health care regimen.

“The current federal adverse event reporting system (AER) administered by FDA works. Creating additional federal bureaucracy to duplicate this effort inside the military is counterproductive and wasteful. CRN supports mandatory product listing, which will allow FDA to see all supplement labels and identify potential problems. Our members share our commitment to transparency and are required to submit information on all the products they manufacture and market in the Supplement OWL.  Adding a redundant regulatory mechanism likely won’t address the underlying problem of spiked products, and would be a disservice to our military.”

For more information, visit www.crnusa.org.