For Retailers

APRIL 2025

Past Editions—Need to Know Archives

IN THIS EDITION:

Here's what retailers need to know:

• Connect with CRN's Steve Mister at NACDS for supplement industry updates

• CRN cautions against misuse of vitamin A supplementation for measles prevention

• FSA/HSA inclusion of supplements among opportunities for policy advancement in 2025

Connect with CRN at NACDS

Heading to the NACDS Annual at The Breakers later this month? 

Let’s talk supplements!

CRN President & CEO Steve Mister will be on site at The Breakers and would welcome the opportunity to catch up with you on the latest developments affecting the dietary supplement aisle.

Retailers are facing a new slate of challenges—and opportunities:

• How should stores respond to age-restrictions when it comes to dietary supplements now that verification is required for certain supplements in New York—and what’s next as other states eye similar proposals?
• What would FDA’s potential elimination of self-GRAS mean for innovation in your supplement assortment?
• What’s really going on with prenatal vitamins—nutrient content, manufacturing concerns, and media criticism?
• How can retailers support CRN’s lobbying effort to allow consumers to use their FSAs and HSAs to purchase dietary supplements?

CRN is here to help retailers navigate it all with clarity and confidence.

Get in touch: Contact Steve via email—smister@crnusa.org—or message on LinkedIn to set up a time for a brief meetup in Palm Beach.

CRN cautions against misuse of vitamin A supplementation for measles prevention

CRN is advising caution in response to recent media reports of parents administering high doses of vitamin A to children in an attempt to prevent measles infection.

While vitamin A plays an important role in immune function, it is not a substitute for vaccination, and excessive intake can be dangerous—especially for children and during pregnancy. As a fat-soluble vitamin, preformed vitamin A accumulates in the liver, and too much can lead to toxicity, including liver damage, headaches, dizziness, and nausea.

Retailers should be aware that this issue may spark shopper questions or scrutiny of immune-related supplements. CRN urges responsible messaging and recommends that consumers consult healthcare professionals before giving any supplement to children—particularly at high doses.

There is a clinically supported role for therapeutic vitamin A use in children already infected with measles and suffering from deficiency, but this is a short-term, medically directed intervention—not a preventive use case.

“Vitamin A is important for health, but more is not always better. Parents should rely on medically approved preventive measures, such as vaccination, to protect their children against measles,” said CRN’s Andrea Wong, Ph.D. "Retailers have a key role in helping guide responsible supplement use and directing shoppers to medically sound preventive measures.”

FSA/HSA inclusion of supplements among opportunities for policy advancement in 2025, Mister says

CRN has advocated for several years that consumers should be able to use their Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSAs) for dietary supplements, and the current policymaking climate could be ideal for getting it done. 

CRN President & CEO Steve Mister observed in a Whole Foods Magazine article earlier this year that, "with significant tax legislation slated to advance in 2025, a pro-business agenda, and interest in reforming healthcare to focus on 'well care,' the table is set." 

• CRN has been educating Members of Congress on the potential cost savings of supplement usage and providing financial data demonstrating this change won’t break the bank. "Most FSA/HSA holders say they want the flexibility to purchase supplements with these pre-tax funds," Mister noted.  

Other policy priorities on CRN's radar Mister discusses in the article include:

• Addressing address drug preclusion—or supplement exclusion—as FDA has misinterpreted the provision to give drug firms perpetual monopolies over "articles" studied and abandoned, investigated for vastly different uses, or that bear little resemblance to the supplement formulation, disrupting the industry and stifling innovation. 
• Updates to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), which may be more challenging in the new Congress, but "doable," according to Mister. These include new authority allowing FDA to use facility audits prepared by credentialed third parties to set its inspection schedules, modernizing the restrictions on labeling claims to permit science-driven companies to promote clinical studies that include drug-related endpoints or discuss diseases, and a mandatory registry of supplement labels—promoted by responsible industry to give FDA and retailers greater visibility into the marketplace. 

Yes, but: "2025 is not without peril," Mister warned. As we're seeing Cabinet Members of the new administration become lightning rods for negative media coverage of supplements, the category is under new scrutiny. 

"It will become even more critical for supplement companies to observe voluntary programs that demonstrate our commitment to serving consumers with safe and beneficial products," Mister noted.