Centre for Responsible Nutrition’s John Hathcock to Retire

Industry legend to move to part-time consultant work.

29 Jun 2012 --- Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) President & CEO Steve Mister today announced that CRN’s senior scientist, John Hathcock, Ph.D., senior vice president, scientific & international affairs, CRN, will officially retire from the trade association effective July 5. Dr. Hathcock will serve as a part-time consultant for CRN, focusing on international issues and continuing his work in the area of risk assessment for nutrients.

“We have been privileged to have someone of Dr. Hathcock’s caliber, intelligence and dedication represent CRN in its pursuit to make dietary supplements safe for the world, and make the world safe for dietary supplements. He is highly revered within the dietary supplement industry, well-regarded in scientific circles, and strongly respected throughout the international regulatory world.  We will miss working with him day-to-day; however, if anyone has earned his retirement, it’s Dr. Hathcock.  Fortunately, our member companies, and our industry at large, will benefit from his continued relationship as a CRN consultant,” said Mr. Mister.

Among his many accomplishments while at CRN, Dr. Hathcock was instrumental in securing Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status for the trade association in Codex Alimentarius, the first such recognition for the dietary supplement industry.  In addition to representing CRN and its member companies at Codex meetings, Dr. Hathcock  is renowned for his work in refining the principles of risk assessment as applied to nutrients, his championing that the establishment of RDA-based Upper Levels (ULs) by regulatory bodies is not scientifically appropriate, and his efforts to deter regulation based on non-scientific precautionary principles.

According to CRN-I Chairman John Venardos, senior vice president, Worldwide Regulatory, Government & Industry Affairs, Herbalife, “Few scientific experts possess the gravitas and authoritative experience of Dr. Hathcock.  From humble beginnings in the Carolinas, to his experience as an academic, to serving as a leading regulator at FDA, and, for nearly the last two decades as CRN's senior scientist, he has brought a level of credibility that has elevated our industry, truly representing CRN’s science behind the supplements. Dr. Hathcock has played on the world stage, influencing Codex guidelines, helping ASEAN nations harmonize their varied supplement regulations, and providing technical input to officials in Argentina, Chile, China, Jamaica, Mexico, Russia, and the European Union. While he is retiring, he is not leaving, and I look forward to continuing to work with him as a trusted consultant to CRN and its international arm, CRN-I.”

Dr. Hathcock’s career spans four decades, culminating with his 17 years at CRN.   After receiving his Ph.D. in nutrition from Cornell University, he began his career as a professor at Iowa State University.  He spent nearly a decade at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a senior scientist before joining CRN.  Throughout his career, Dr. Hathcock served on numerous editorial boards, published extensively in peer-reviewed scientific and regulatory journals, and was a member of many nutrition, food science and toxicology professional societies.  He is the author of CRN’s Vitamin and Mineral Safety (1997 and 2004).  He is the winner of two prestigious dietary supplement industry awards, the CRN Apple Award and the NBJ Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It has been an honor representing CRN and its member companies,” said Dr. Hathcock, who estimates he has visited nearly 40 countries, and logged well over one million miles during his tenure at CRN.  “I’m fortunate to be someone who truly loves my work, and to have had the opportunity to meet and work with so many people for whom I have such high regard professionally and personally.  Most rewarding is the ability to have effected change in scientific and regulatory circles and to have played a role in helping elevate the scientific principles that serve as the foundation for the dietary supplement industry.”