As part of ongoing efforts to ensure that consumers have access to accurate and meaningful information about the nutritional supplements and natural products they use each and every day, the Natural Products Association (NPA) has joined the Coalition for Accurate Product Labels. The coalition is asking Congress to pass the Accurate Labels Act, which will establish a federal standard for labeling and ingredient disclosure requirements that is risk-based and substantiated by sound science. 

As part of the effort to ensure nutritional supplements and natural products are accurately labeled for consumers, NPA will be activating its robust grassroots operation.

“Consumers have a right to know what is in the products they use each and every day, especially when it comes to making decisions about taking products to support their health. However, unfounded warning label programs like those in California only make product labels more confusing for consumers,” said Daniel Fabricant, president and CEO of NPA. “Congress must act to protect consumers and put an end to expensive lawsuits and unnecessary new regulatory burdens that are difficult for small businesses to manage.” 

The coalition is asking Congress to amend the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act to ensure that consumers have access to clear, accurate and meaningful product information by doing the following: 

• Establish science-based criteria for all additional state and local labeling requirements. States that meet the criteria can enact their own ingredient listing or labeling programs. 
• Allow state-mandated product information to be provided through smartphone-enabled “smart labels” and on websites, where consumers can find up-to-date, relevant ingredients and warnings. 
• Ensure that covered product information is risk-based. Warning labels act as important precautionary notices of legitimate risks and need to be taken seriously. 

NPA said it is joining the group as “a growing number of states and cities are making it more difficult for consumers to understand and read labels by requiring or proposing mandatory labels on packaging that are not backed by science and that imply risks when none exist,” such as California’s labeling program that requires warnings on anything that contains one of over 900 substances like aloe vera and others that are naturally occurring.