CRN Foundation Announces Five-Year Grant to National Advertising Division for Review of Supplement Ads

CRN Foundation Announces Five-Year Grant to National Advertising Division for
Review of Supplement Ads

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council for Responsible
Nutrition (CRN) and the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) today
announced that they will be extending the dietary supplement advertising
review program established in October 2006 for an additional five years. Under
the extension agreement, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the
Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) will receive $959,000 from the
newly-formed 501(c)(3) CRN Foundation, payable in incremental, semi-annual
grants, beginning November 1, 2009 through October 31, 2014.

"Responsible industries take actions that demonstrate their commitment to
protecting their consumers, and this self-regulatory program says to all
companies that this industry won't sit back and let misleading advertising
serve as a hallmark for which our industry is known. In the three years this
program has been in existence, it has gained momentum and widespread
attention, becoming an example of responsibility for our industry," said CRN
Foundation Executive Director Steve Mister. "This initiative reflects one of
the CRN Foundation's objectives--'to promote truthful and non-misleading
advertising of dietary supplements to consumers through programs that
encourage self-regulation of advertising by industry members.'"

"Misleading dietary supplement advertising negatively impacts trusting
consumers and honest competitors alike. Left unchecked, misleading advertising
will undermine the reputation of the entire industry," said Andrea Levine, NAD
Director and CBBB Senior Vice President. "With CRN's support, we have
demonstrated that self-regulation can play an active and visible role in
combating misleading and unsubstantiated dietary supplement claims, but there
is still significant work left to be done. We look forward to continuing our
program and are confident that it will make a real difference. CRN is to be
commended for its leadership for supporting this strong, impartial
self-regulatory program."

History and Results of the CRN/NAD Initiative
The CRN/NAD initiative, which began in 2006, was developed to increase
consumer confidence in the truth and accuracy of advertising claims for
dietary supplement products and to encourage fair competition within the
industry. Through a series of multi-year grants from CRN, the initiative
allowed NAD to hire an additional attorney who focused solely on the dietary
supplement product category. The initiative has taken aim at substantive
claims that are deceptive or misleading and clearly go beyond what's supported
by research and allowed by law--claims that feed the public's distrust of the
supplement industry. NAD reviews advertising that is national in scope,
including print, broadcast, infomercials and Internet advertising. NAD opens
cases following complaints from consumers, competitors and pursuant to its own
monitoring.

At the 2008 NAD annual legal conference, Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch lauded the CRN/NAD initiative, calling it "...an
excellent example of self-regulation that will increase monitoring of
advertising for dietary supplements...[a program that] empowers supplement
companies...by encouraging them to file a competitive [challenge] with NAD if
they see a supplement ad that's misleading, untruthful, or includes claims
that can't be substantiated."

Likewise, at The Conference: CRN's Annual Symposium for the Dietary Supplement
Industry in October 2009, FTC Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, David
C. Vladeck noted, "There have always been and there will always be marketers
who claim to cure whatever ails us," but went on to applaud the extension of
the CRN and NAD initiative and the importance of the self-regulatory program
that is helping to clean up the industry.

The year before the monitoring initiative began, NAD opened fewer than 10
cases involving dietary supplement advertising. During the first three years
of the program, with the increased resources provided by CRN, NAD opened more
than 75 cases, with almost all resulting in voluntary compliance. CRN, which
has no role in determining whether the claims reviewed by NAD are determined
to be truthful and accurate, submitted 12 cases to NAD through competitive
challenges; other cases came from competitors or through monitoring activities
of the NAD itself. In cases where the advertiser has declined to participate
or declined to abide by the terms of an NAD decision, the advertising at issue
has been referred to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and FTC.

"Today, we call upon each company in the dietary supplement industry to do its
part when it comes to advertising. Responsible companies must exercise
restraint in their own marketing and we urge companies to file competitive
challenges with the NAD when they see dietary supplement advertisements that
they believe do a disservice to the entire industry," said Mr. Mister.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), founded in 1973, is a Washington,
D.C.-based trade association representing dietary supplement manufacturers and
ingredient suppliers. In addition to complying with a host of federal and
state regulations governing dietary supplements in the areas of manufacturing,
marketing, quality control and safety, our 70+ manufacturer and supplier
members also agree to adhere to additional voluntary guidelines as well as
CRN's Code of Ethics. Visit www.crnusa.org.

The CRN Foundation was established in 2009 as a non-profit 501(c)(3)
organization for the purpose of educating people about the beneficial, safe
and responsible use of dietary supplements and their ingredients as part of a
culture of wellness. Visit www.crnusa.org/CRNfoundation.

About Advertising Industry Self-Regulation: The National Advertising Review
Council (NARC) was formed in 1971. NARC establishes the policies and
procedures for the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of
Better Business Bureaus, the CBBB's Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU),
the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) and the Electronic Retailing
Self-Regulation Program (ERSP).

The NARC Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the American
Advertising Federation, Inc. (AAF), American Association of Advertising
Agencies, Inc., (AAAA), the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA),
Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB), Direct Marketing Association
(DMA), Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) and Interactive Advertising
Bureau (IAB). Its purpose is to foster truth and accuracy in national
advertising through voluntary self-regulation.

NAD, CARU and ERSP are the investigative arms of the advertising industry's
voluntary self-regulation program. Their casework results from competitive
challenges from other advertisers, and also from self-monitoring traditional
and new media. NARB, the appeals body, is a peer group from which ad-hoc
panels are selected to adjudicate NAD/CARU cases that are not resolved at the
NAD/CARU level. This unique, self-regulatory system is funded entirely by the
business community; CARU is financed by the children's advertising industry,
while NAD/NARC/NARB's principle source of funding is derived from membership
fees paid to the CBBB. ERSP's funding is derived from membership in the
Electronic Retailing Association. For more information about advertising
industry self-regulation, please visit www.narcpartners.org.

SOURCE CRN Foundation

Season Solorio, CRN, +1-202-204-7682, or Linda Bean, NARC, +1-212-705-0129