Nutritional Outlook's 2016 Best of the Industry Award Winners

For as much as the dietary supplements industry has been put under the microscope by critics these past few years, surveys-most recently the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s annual consumer survey-show that many shoppers remain loyal customers. These consumers’ overall confidence in the safety, quality, and effectiveness of supplements holds steady year over year.

Trust in supplements, however, is earned, not given. Those with a stake in the supplements/natural products industry need to work to continually boost industry credibility. Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that all four of the award winners Nutritional Outlook’s readers and editors selected as this year’s Best of the Industry 2016 worked in some way during the past year to help increase transparency, quality, safety, and clear messaging around dietary supplements.

Take the Council for Responsible Nutrition, whose new Supplement OWL database aims to boost transparency by making available to regulators, as well as to the public, an industry-wide finished-products registry. Another winner this year is the Botanical Adulterants Program, whose valuable resources educate stakeholders about the critical botanical adulteration issues happening around the globe. With adulteration in mind, as well, our third winner, ingredient supplier/contract manufacturer Sabinsa Corp., has blazed a trail on carbon-dating curcumin in an effort to expose adulteration in the natural-curcumin market. Finally, we are recognizing the snacks brand KIND, whose bold citizen petition to FDA led to the agency’s decision this year to redefine the term healthy. Thanks to KIND’s actions, this common marketing term may soon be updated and ultimately become more meaningful to the consumer.

Companies like these are making the industry-advancing contributions that will help maintain consumer trust and perhaps build back any trust that has been lost. Please join us in congratulating our esteemed Best of 2016 winners and read their stories!

Industry Leader: Council for Responsible Nutrition

Industry Leader: Botanical Adulterants Program

Ingredient Supplier/Service Provider: Sabinsa Corp.

Retail Brand/Product: KIND

Jennifer Grebow
Editor-in-Chief
Nutritional Outlook magazine
jennifer.grebow@ubm.com