World’s Biggest Retailer Said Sales Would be Banned on March 13th
Washington, D.C. – The Natural Products Association (NPA) today called on e-commerce retailers to continue selling products containing beta-nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) after Amazon’s Restricted Products Team told sellers in an email this morning that those products would be banned after March 13, 2023. For perspective, Whole Foods continued to sell NAC when Amazon removed NAC from their marketplace. On November 4, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) arbitrarily ruled that NMN is no longer considered a dietary supplement and instead needs to follow the regulatory process for drugs. On December 1, 2022, NPA requested that the FDA initiate a typical dietary supplement public comment period on the ingredient where stakeholders would have the opportunity to submit relevant safety data to the agency, but the agency rejected the request without explanation.
“This latest example of the FDA misinterpretation of the law is wreaking havoc on the marketplace and causing confusion and significant economic harm,” said Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., president and CEO of the NPA. “This the first time in history that FDA reversed itself on an acknowledgement letter for a new dietary ingredient without a shred of evidence that safety was at risk. It is setting a new precedent in that an announcement of Generally Recognized as Safe no longer constitutes evidence of the marketing of NMN as a food before the ingredient was authorized for investigation as a new drug.”
“FDA’s growing and repeated abuse of the law is sending shock waves across the dietary supplement industry. If the FDA can change decisions overnight by repealing an acknowledgement letter without foundation, what’s to stop them again? If the agency can exclude NAC from the definition of a dietary supplement despite the science, what’s to stop them from doing it to a different ingredient? If the agency can lobby for unneeded new authorities like a mandatory product listing while ignoring a regulatory path for CBD which is available on every street corner in America, who will stop them? This is inexcusable and downright shameful, and NPA will use every available resource to ensure the agency is again accountable to consumers and the industry.”
