Rick Quinn, Principal at Maryland based FDA consulting firm, FDAImports.com, will be serving as a panelist at the Natural Products Expo West Town Hall meeting for retailers, “Defining Natural Together” on Sunday, March 10th, 2013 at 9am Pacific Time. The session, part of the Natural Products Expo West event in Anaheim, CA, is intended to provide an opportunity for attendees to work together to create a meaningful industry definition of “natural” in the absence of a functional definition from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Rick Quinn will join other industry leaders from the regulatory, retail and manufacturing sectors in moderating a lively “town hall” style discussion on “natural” claims. Discussion items will include:
- FDA’s position toward “natural” claims: past, present, future
- How the industry self-regulates “natural” claims currently
- How consumers think about “natural” claims
- The issues surrounding the use of “natural” claims in the food industry
- What to expect in the future
“FDA’s treatment of both natural claims and natural products remains subject to the agency’s discretion,” said Rick Quinn. “Despite this uncertainty, innovators and well-established firms can learn from FDA’s enforcement actions, as well the courts’ treatment of natural claims and products in the recent onslaught of related class-action lawsuits. Companies actually can avoid the current pitfalls and reap the benefits of this market, while bringing the best possible product to the consumer…”
FDAImports.com will also be participating in Expo West’s #NaturalChat on Twitter before the event, interacting with the organic community on the question of “natural” claims in advance of the Town Hall.
• FDAImports.com Twitter: @fdaimports
• Natural Chat hashtag: #DefineNatural
• About the Town Hall event: http://newhope360.com/lets-define-natural-together
