Denver, Colorado – The Natural Products Association (NPA) today secured a major victory for the industry when legislative language that would have restricted and in some cases prohibited access to dietary supplements was stricken from legislation before the Colorado Health and Human Services Committee. Majority Leader Dominick Moreno amended his bill SB 23-176 and removed the language after extensive collaboration between the NPA, Natural Grocers and Majority Leader.
“This is a big victory for consumer access in Colorado and we want to thank Majority Leader Moreno for his leadership and willingness to collaborate on a good solution. We wish more state lawmakers in other capitals would exercise the same approach to science, reason, and common sense,” said Kyle Turk, director of government affairs for the NPA. “Far too often, legislators simply ignore science, data and the consequences of poorly-designed legislation that ends up hurting consumers, but this was not one of those instances. Our team immediately had the opportunity to share the impact language in the bill would have on consumers and industry stakeholders. We are grateful to the Majority leader and other stakeholders in the eating disorder community who considered the facts and recognized that there is no data point connecting eating disorders and the use of dietary supplements.”
The NPA has led the fight against scientifically baseless proposals in state legislatures. States have introduced legislation restricting access to supplements from California to New York. The NPA has activated its grassroots advocates, sending thousands of communications opposing restrictive policies.
“We may have won this battle in Colorado, but if you really want to know what’s going on, you only need to know this. There is an all-out war against the dietary supplement industry, and this is why industry stakeholders join organizations like the NPA. No other organization has consistently fought back against government overreach directed towards our community. The growing number of dangerous proposals by state legislatures and actions by the FDA are a two-front war against our industry and one that the NPA is committed to fighting at every turn. This victory demonstrates the influence of our grassroots operation and how effective we can be when the entire supply chain of retailers, manufacturers and suppliers comes together.”
