Type | Nonprofit |
---|---|
Focus | Natural products |
Location | |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Dr. Daniel Fabricant, (CEO and President) Mark LeDoux, (Chairman, NPA Board of Directors) |
Website | www.npainfo.org |
The Natural Products Association or NPA (formerly the NNFA, or the National Nutritional Foods Association) is the largest and oldest nonprofit organization representing the interests of manufacturers and retailers of the natural products industry, which includes organic and health foods, dietary supplements, natural ingredient cosmetics, and other similar products. The organization includes more than 1,900 members accounting for more than 10,000 retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors of natural products.
The Natural Products Association was founded in 1936 as the American Health Foods Association (AHFA) to inform consumers about the benefits of the natural nutrition industry. In 1937, the association changed its name to the Natural Health Foods Association (NHFA), representing retailers, manufacturers and distributors. In 1943, NHFA was renamed to the National Dietary Foods Association (NDFA). In 1970, NDFA officially became the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA). The organization renamed itself the Natural Products Association or NPA in June 2006. It has over 650 members today. Its members include suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers representing 10,000 storefronts. [1]
The science and regulatory affairs department oversees the association's third-party certification programs.
The NPA Natural Seal is described as the first and only natural products certification in the United States. Currently only home care and personal care products and ingredients can be certified. The association requires that certified products must be at least 95 percent natural ingredients or ingredients from natural sources, excluding water. NPA-certified products must use natural ingredients, avoid ingredients with health risks, don't use animal testing, and include biodegradable or recycled material in the packaging. Products also must list all ingredients on the package label, and NPA requires 100 percent natural fragrances and colorants. Certified products are said to appear in more than 85,000 stores nationwide. NPA has certified more than 1,200 products and ingredients since 2008, including well-known brands like Burt's Bees and J.R. Watkins. [2]
The Natural Products Association launched the first third-party Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) program for the manufacturing of dietary supplements and ingredients in 1999. NPA GMP Certification is awarded to companies that comply with the NPA GMP standard as verified through comprehensive third-party inspections of facilities and GMP-related documentation. More than 70 companies are known to have achieved certification. NPA also offers a series of GMP training seminars across the United States each year. [3]
The Natural Products Association educates members of Congress about the industry and the impact of federal legislation and regulations. In addition, NPA provides comments to federal agencies on how regulatory enforcement activities may affect manufacturers, retailers and consumers of natural products and dietary supplements. NPA's regional offices are primarily responsible for monitoring state legislative activity, though the national office leads outreach in California and Hawaii.
Each year, NPA hosts Natural Products Day for NPA members and others in the industry to visit Congressional offices and talk to senators, representatives and their staffs about legislative and regulatory issues. NPA also presents Congressional Champion Awards to selected legislators. [4] In addition, the association hosts a California Natural Products Day in Sacramento. [5]
Offering two days of industry-driven, educational sessions, workshop programming, case studies, interactive discussions, networking and benchmarking. The Big Natural brings together industry leaders, innovators and government officials who share insights that will educate, empower and spark innovative ideas to drive the industry forward. [6]
The Dietary Supplement Caucus (DSC) was launched in 2006 to serve as a bipartisan, bicameral group to facilitate discussions among congressional lawmakers about issues related to dietary supplements. In 2008, the DSC, in cooperation with the Natural Products Association and the Council for Responsible Nutrition, held its first briefing. The briefings continue to be held on Capitol Hill. [7]
The Natural Products Association offers a variety of educational programs and resources for both members and non-members. These include:
NPA members typically receive discounts off the price of education sessions.
Members of the Natural Products Association also may join one of five regional offices. Each region is governed by its own board of directors and the president of each region also sits on the national NPA Board of Directors. Regional offices include: NPA East; NPA Midwest; NPA Northwest; SENPA Southeast Natural Products Association; and NPA Southwest. [8]
The United States Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, caffeine products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), cosmetics, animal foods & feed and veterinary products.
A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources, or that are synthetic. The classes of nutrient compounds in supplements include vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, and amino acids. Dietary supplements can also contain substances that have not been confirmed as being essential to life, and so are not nutrients per se, but are marketed as having a beneficial biological effect, such as plant pigments or polyphenols. Animals can also be a source of supplement ingredients, such as collagen from chickens or fish for example. These are also sold individually and in combination, and may be combined with nutrient ingredients. The European Commission has also established harmonized rules to help insure that food supplements are safe and appropriately labeled.
Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. A lesser known counterpart is certification for organic textiles that includes certification of textile products made from organically grown fibres.
Cheez Whiz is a brand of processed cheese sauce and spread produced by Kraft Foods. It was developed by a team led by food scientist Edwin Traisman (1915–2007). It was first sold in 1952, and, with some changes in formulation, continues to be in production today.
Current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) are those conforming to the guidelines recommended by relevant agencies. Those agencies control the authorization and licensing of the manufacture and sale of food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, dietary supplements, and medical devices. These guidelines provide minimum requirements that a manufacturer must meet to assure that their products are consistently high in quality, from batch to batch, for their intended use.
Nutraceutical is a marketing term used to imply a pharmaceutical effect from a compound or food product that has not been scientifically confirmed or approved to have clinical benefits. In the United States, nutraceuticals are considered and regulated as a subset of foods by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Quality Assurance International (QAI) is a U.S.-based international organic certification company that is authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as "a USDA-accredited certifying agent that operates globally to certify organic operations to National Organic Program standards." It is a for-profit corporation, established in 1989, and headquartered in San Diego, California. It is one of the world's largest certifiers, operating in the United States, Canada, Latin America, European Union, and Japan.
GNC Holdings, LLC is an American multinational retail and nutritional manufacturing company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It specializes in health and nutrition related products, including vitamins, supplements, minerals, herbs, sports nutrition, diet, and energy products. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, a Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical manufacturer.
Food policy is the area of public policy concerning how food is produced, processed, distributed, purchased, or provided. Food policies are designed to influence the operation of the food and agriculture system balanced with ensuring human health needs. This often includes decision-making around production and processing techniques, marketing, availability, utilization, and consumption of food, in the interest of meeting or furthering social objectives. Food policy can be promulgated on any level, from local to global, and by a government agency, business, or organization. Food policymakers engage in activities such as regulation of food-related industries, establishing eligibility standards for food assistance programs for the poor, ensuring safety of the food supply, food labeling, and even the qualifications of a product to be considered organic.
Pet food is animal feed intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food. Most meat used for animals is a byproduct of the human food industry, and is not regarded as "human grade". Examples of foods for pets would be canned foods and dry mix. Pet food production has environmental, land-use and climate change impacts.
The health freedom movement is a libertarian coalition that opposes regulation of health practices and advocates for increased access to "non-traditional" health care.
Dental laboratories manufacture or customize a variety of products to assist in the provision of oral health care by a licensed dentist. These products include crowns, bridges, dentures and other dental products. Dental lab technicians follow a prescription from a licensed dentist when manufacturing these items, which include prosthetic devices and therapeutic devices. The FDA regulates these products as medical devices and they are therefore subject to FDA's good manufacturing practice ("GMP") and quality system ("QS") requirements. In most cases, however, they are exempt from manufacturer registration requirements. Some of the most common restorations manufactured include crowns, bridges, dentures, and dental implants. Dental implants is one of the most advanced dental technologies in the field of dentistry.
The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is the branch of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that regulates food, dietary supplements, and cosmetics, as opposed to drugs, biologics, medical devices, and radiological products, which also fall under the purview of the FDA.
ConsumerLab.com, LLC. is a privately held American company registered in White Plains, NY. It is a publisher of test results on health, wellness, and nutrition products. Consumer Labs is not a laboratory, but contracts studies to outside testing laboratories. It purchases dietary supplement products and other consumer goods directly from public storefronts and online retailers, contracts for testing by private laboratories, and publishes reports based on the results. It primarily derives revenue from the sale of subscriptions to its online publications, which are paywalled. Other sources of revenue include a proprietary certification program, licensing fees, contents re-publication license fees, and advertising.
Natural product certification is an official term that refers to a specific process where products derived from natural sources, such as plants, minerals, or animals, are assessed and verified to meet certain standards or criteria. This certification can cover a wide range of product categories, including food, cosmetics, dietary supplements, and personal care products.
The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 ("DSHEA"), is a 1994 statute of United States Federal legislation which defines and regulates dietary supplements. Under the act, supplements are regulated by the FDA for Good Manufacturing Practices under 21 CFR Part 111. The act was intended to exempt the dietary and herbal supplement industry from most FDA drug regulations, allowing them to be sold and marketed without scientific backing for their health and medical claims.
The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) is a not-for-profit organization that represents the feed industry in industry-wide events, national and state legislation, etc. Members of the AFIA include livestock feed manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, pet food manufacturers, supplier companies, regional and state associations, and international firms.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) is a Washington D.C.–based trade association and lobbying group representing more than 180 companies that manufacture dietary ingredients and supplements, or supply services to those suppliers and manufacturers. CRN's current president and CEO is Steve M. Mister.
The Taiwan Quality Food Association (TQF Association) is a juridical association responsible for the management of the Taiwan Quality Food (TQF) Product Certification Scheme, which is in compliance with GHP, GMP and HACCP standards requirements, and also to provide guidelines and support for the food industry to voluntarily implement food safety management system. TQF Association's five main core functions are as follow:
The Proxmire Amendments were a series of legislation that prohibited the Food and Drug Administration from monitoring and limiting the potency of vitamins and minerals found in dietary supplements. The Proxmire Amendment also made it so that food supplements could not be classified as drugs, making their sale possible without a prescription from a doctor. According to a study done, "dietary supplements fall into the following categories: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, animal-derived products, hormones and hormone analogues, enzymes, and concentrates, metabolites, constituents, or extracts of these." They can be used by anyone wishing to purchase them as much or as little as they desire. Dietary supplements can be used to increase productivity, treat illness, help mental health such as depression and anxiety, enhancing mental abilities, building muscle, or losing weight, among many other uses. William Proxmire, a Senator for Wisconsin, was instrumental in influencing the passing the Proxmire Amendment. The Proxmire Amendment is also known as The Rogers-Proxmire Amendment of 1976, and The Vitamins and Minerals Amendments. This amendment became section 411 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.