The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a trade association serving the dietary supplement industry, and the Enzyme Technical Association (ETA), a trade association representing manufacturers and marketers of enzyme products in North America, recently announced the release of their voluntary guidelines for enzyme-containing dietary supplements: the Enzyme Dietary Supplement Products Best Practices Guide.

The guide includes information on handling practices for enzymes, as well as stability, storage and expiration dating. In addition, the guide discusses enzyme identity specifications, safety and microbiological testing, and considerations for New Dietary Ingredient notifications. There is also guidance on appropriate labeling of dietary supplement products containing enzymes. The Guide is available free of charge on CRN’s and ETA’s websites.

“These new voluntary guidelines provide ingredient suppliers and manufacturers in this growing category clear, science-based best practices for delivering safe, high-quality enzyme supplement products to customers and consumers,” said CRN’s Duffy MacKay, ND, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. “These guidelines demonstrate responsible industry’s dedication to step up, self-regulate and ensure that this high-potential category lives up to its potential, providing the very highest quality products to our consumers.”

CRN and ETA prepared the voluntary Enzyme Dietary Supplement Best Practices Guide to promote the safe production and use of enzyme-containing dietary supplements and to facilitate transparency and uniformity in the dietary supplement and enzyme industries. Over the course of the project, which began in Fall 2012, CRN and ETA gathered input from the dietary supplement and enzyme industries, taking into account the current US legal and regulatory requirements. The guide reflects the most up-to-date science and industry thinking with regard to the appropriate handling of enzyme-containing dietary supplements. As best practices evolve, the guidelines will be updated.

For more information, visit www.crnusa.org.

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