Washington DC—The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) held its 2021 Regulatory, Science and Quality (RSQ) conference virtually last week.

CPHA said in a press release that the event featured record attendance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD, and Acting Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Office of Dietary Supplement Programs (ODSP), Cara Welch, Ph.D.

Some highlights, according to the press release:

• Modernize DHEA. Dr Woodcock highlighted the need to update the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, 1994 (DSHEA). “The industry is not in the same place it was 27 years ago when the DSHEA was adopted,” she said. “We all know that. We have people all over the United States taking multiple dietary supplements, and our job is to make sure they don’t get harmed by them. That these dangerous or illegal products don’t go in. in the marketplace and holding companies accountable if they do not comply with the requirements of the law, but our tools to do so are quite limited.
• FDA-industry collaboration. Emphasizing the importance of industry collaboration to strengthen the DSHEA framework, Dr Woodcock said, “I think we need to mutually and in collaboration with industry assess the current regulatory framework to ensure that the FDA has the tools to keep bad market players out, to keep industry reputation issues good and strong, and to protect patients and consumers as well. “
• Mandatory product list. Dr Cara Welch discussed the DSHEA and the role that mandatory product listing can play in enabling the FDA to better manage its resources and educate retailers and consumers about marketed products. “The conversation between patient and health care provider can really be informed by a list of products,” said Dr. Welch. “If someone can literally put up a list and tell their doctor, ‘this is the product I’m taking,’ they can see it. What are the levels of these ingredients? How might this product affect what else my patient is taking? “
  During a panel discussion, Liz Richardson, director of the healthcare products project at Pew Charitable Trusts, noted overwhelming bipartisan support for the list of products, with 97% of Democrats and 93% of Republicans supporting the policy. .
• CBD Regulation. Dr Woodcock discussed the FDA’s interagency work on cannabidiol (CBD) regulatory policy, stating :, the safety and quality of products containing CBD. To this end, we remain unwavering in our efforts to obtain research, data and other contributions in public health and safety to inform our approach and address consumer access in a way that protects public health. and maintains incentives for the development of cannabis-based medicines through established regulatory channels. “

Other strengths of food supplements, according to the press release:

• Discussion of the standards underlying the notification of novel food ingredients (NDIN) and pathways generally recognized as safe (GRAS);
• Overview of the regulatory, scientific and legislative landscape of CBD;
• Discussion on retailers’ support for harmonizing quality programs to protect consumers when purchasing products;
• Insight into the growing use and future of probiotics.

Registration to watch all on-demand content will remain open until October 10.