US Online Dietary Supplement Product Registry Goes Live

28 Apr 2017 --- After several months of preparation, the US Supplement OWL (Online Wellness Library) went online yesterday. Intended as a resource for regulators, retailers, and industry, the OWL is an industry-wide, self-regulatory initiative that will help create a more comprehensive picture of the supplement marketplace.

The Supplement OWL can be accessed by anyone using the Internet and will serve as an online resource for a variety of stakeholders to identify products, their ingredients and the companies who market them, and permit registry users to examine and evaluate labels and other product information, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a US trade association for the dietary supplement industry. CRN helped set up the registry by providing the initial funding and conceptual project management.

“Last month, during Expo West, it was heartening to witness the high level of awareness about the Supplement OWL and exhilarating to be surrounded by the industry buzz. This has been a unique opportunity for our industry: working together on a self-regulatory initiative for the greater good,” says Steve Mister, CRN President & CEO.

Companies can test-drive the product registry and retailers can begin to use it to evaluate products on their shelves, with CRN adding that it is “confident that the number of companies participating in the Supplement OWL and the number of labels included will grow to the point where users will question why a company’s label is not available in the Supplement OWL.” 

“Today is just the start, but broader engagement, that’s the end game,” says Mister. “If you have confidence in your product and in your label, why wouldn’t you want to house it in a free product registry that demonstrates you’re willing to help the industry be more transparent and more accountable to our regulators, to retailers, and ultimately to consumers. If daylight is indeed ‘the best disinfectant,’ then the Supplement OWL helps to clean up the industry by putting products on display.”

 “We anticipate there will be additional expressions of public support. It’s the right thing to do, especially at a time when some anticipate government will seek to reduce industry regulation. That’s when we have our best opportunity to proactively find ways to raise the bar for this industry. That’s what the Supplement OWL does,” Mister adds.

The Supplement OWL offers two tiers of information. Participation in Tier 1 includes an image of the product, a complete product label and other fields of information, obtained principally from the label itself. Participation in Tier 1 is free of charge.

Meanwhile, Tier 2 allows companies to upload additional supporting information and documentation about their products and to choose who will have access to that information. Participation in Tier 2 includes a nominal charge.