The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), has established a new wholly-owned subsidiary headquartered in Manno, Switzerland, to be known as the Council for Responsible Nutrition-International (CRN-I).

According to Mark LeDoux, one of CRN-I’s founding Board members and chairman of CRN, “This was a natural progression for CRN to formalize the work it’s been doing for decades by standing up for science-based principles for dietary/food supplements worldwide. CRN-I will provide a new forum by which we can strengthen our current efforts, with a particular emphasis on promoting sound nutrition and food safety policies, and encouraging government bodies, regulators and other decision makers to make policy recommendations that are well-grounded in science. In this global economy, having a European-based platform from which to disseminate science-based policy recommendations has been imperative to maximize our influence on behalf of our multi-national members doing business around the world.”

The new organization’s first priority is to conduct a one-day scientific symposium—“Scientific Issues Related to Codex Goals”—taking place July 3 in Geneva, Switzerland, in tandem with the Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting. The CRN-I conference will include invited international regulators and policy makers, nutrition scientists and academics, to share perspectives on Codex-related issues relating to risk management and scientific standards for health claims.

Mr. LeDoux explained, “We have a responsibility to our members and to our consumers worldwide to ensure that regulators and policy makers have the opportunity to engage in intellectual, peer-reviewed, science-based discussions so that they can consider these viewpoints as part of their policy-making process.”

CRN-I will be a self-funded, non-profit association, supported by CRN member and non-member companies. To date, more than one dozen companies have signed on to support the new organization and its goals, and additional funding is anticipated.