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WASHINGTON – The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the leading trade association representing the dietary supplement and functional food industry, applauds the selection of James “Jim” Jones to serve as the first Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods at FDA, an appointment the agency announced earlier today, and welcomes Mr. Jones to the Agency.
Based on a proposed reorganization chart released earlier this year by the agency, Jones is expected to oversee 12 offices and one center, and report directly to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. One of the offices he would oversee is the newly proposed Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements & Innovation.
In July, CRN raised concerns about FDA’s decision to downgrade the existing Office of Dietary Supplements Programs (ODSP) into the new proposed structure. In a press release, CRN questioned why the agency is pulling back on its responsibility to effectively regulate dietary supplements, when these products have grown into a nearly $60 billion industry, and at a time when supplement use is higher than ever before, noting that 75 percent of Americans use dietary supplements.
“Today’s announcement reflects the FDA’s urgency to improve its oversight of food and strengthen consumer confidence in the safety of these products. We are hopeful Mr. Jones shares our interests in robust agency attention to dietary supplements as well,” said Steve Mister, President and CEO of CRN.
According to the agency’s release, Jones held various public and private sector positions over a 30-year career, including, nearly two- decades at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, where he worked on “issues related to chemical safety and the environment.” “Notably, Jones was an integral member of the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s Independent Expert Panel for Foods, which submitted a report on the operational evaluation of the FDA’s Human Foods Program to the agency in December 2022,” the agency’s release also stated. When FDA commissioned the Reagan-Udall Foundation to evaluate FDA’s oversight of food last year, the agency “intentionally left out a review of the supplement piece” of the program, CRN previously noted.
“We congratulate Deputy Commissioner Jones, and look forward to discussing the many challenges that face our industry, which includes the agency’s prioritization of our needs,” said Steve Mister, President and CEO of CRN. “We are eager to share with him our concerns and the diverse needs of our membership, and to help him better understand the important space we occupy in the large category of products he now oversees.”
