Nutrition Law Symposium

Join us for the 18th Annual Nutrition Law Symposium on September 8! This full day conference offers 7 CLE credits.

Agenda: 

8:00-8:30 am: Registration/Breakfast

8:30-9:45 am: Guardians of the Brand: Online Protection and Legal Strategies

Presenters: Laura Erdman, Partner, Vorys; Adam Sherman, Pawrtner, Vorys; KC Barrow, Senior Director Conduct Success, Young Living; Eric Oldroyd, Director of Compliance Audits, USANA Health Sciences; Linda Jo Carron, Associate General Counsel, Nature's Sunshine

Panel discussion of the opportunities and challenges of selling nutritional supplements through online marketplaces.

9:45-10:00 am: Break

10:00-10:55 am: The Halo Effect:  Litigation and Regulation of Feel Good Marketing Claims in 2023

Presenters: Nathan Archibald, Quinn Emanuel; Joe Paunovich, Quinn Emanuel

Environmental credentials are increasingly vital to consumers’ perception of the companies they purchase from, and the green IQ of the market is more sophisticated than ever.  Marketing environmental bona fides presents significant upside for consumer companies wanting to connect with consumers, but it comes with risk.  For example, the risk of “greenwashing” creating a false or misleading impression of just how friendly products, packaging and supply chains really are.  This presentation will discuss the regulatory and litigation landscape that companies face in making their green claims, including -- the particular types of claims that have been of interest to lawyers active in bringing greenwashing lawsuits; the regulatory landscape and developing areas of regulatory focus; substantiation under the FTC’s current Green Guides; and what to expect from the FTC as it revamps its Green Guides in 2023.

10:55-11:50 am: Am I Covered?  A Discussion of Coverage for Recall, Contamination, and Bodily Injury Claims

Presenters: Steven Pudell, Anderson Kill; Christina Yousef, Anderson Kill; Bill Harrison, Arthur J. Gallagher

Ever thought about how far your insurance coverage extends?  Is your recall covered? What should you do if you experience a contamination event? Consumers allege bodily injury as a result of the use of your product?  While there is an inherent risk of operating within the food and beverage and consumer product industry, that risk doesn’t need to fall on your shoulders.  After all, that’s what insurance is for.  In this session Steven Pudell and Christina Yousef of Anderson Kill, along with Bill Harrison of Arthur J. Gallagher, will discuss the importance of CGL and recall insurance, how the courts have handled recent recall, contamination and bodily injury insurance cases, and what to do if you suffer a loss.    

11:50-12:30 pm: Lunch

12:30-1:25 pm: Effectively Working With Cross-Functional Teams

Presenters: Brent Johnson, Holland & Hart; Travis Larsen, Assistant General Counsel, Balchem Corp.; Eric Cappio, Nutrition Scientist, Balchem Corp., Elise Walker-Brown, In-House Counsel, USANA; Israel Zepeda, Senior Director Global Regulatory Affairs, Jeunesse

Join us for this panel discussion to discuss the process that can be utilized to resolve common issues faced in the supplement industry. Panelists from in-house counsel, outside counsel, regulatory, and R&D will go over a case study of a mock product to discuss ways to resolve drug preclusion concerns, NDIs, marketing claims, substantiation issues, and adverse events.  

1:25-2:20 pm: FTC Developments Regarding Advertising for Dietary Supplements

Presenter: Riette Van Laack, Hyman Phelps McNamara

The dietary supplement industry is regulated on a federal level in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  FDA has regulatory authority under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act whereas the FTC has authority under the Federal Trade Commission Act.   The FTC regulates dietary supplement advertising (as it does for all consumer products) by enforcing truth-in-advertising laws and it applies the same standards across all forms of advertising, whether in newspapers, magazines, online, in the mail or on billboards and buses.  Federal law says that ads must be truthful, not misleading, and backed by scientific evidence, especially when health claims are used.

Several recent developments of relevance for the dietary supplement industry include new and updated guidance include the FTC’s release (without prior notice or opportunity for public comment or input) of an “update” to its 1998 dietary supplement advertising guidelines, now called “Health Products Compliance Guidance”  and updates endorsement guides.

Another noteworthy development is FTC’s “resurrection” of its FTC Act’s penalty offense authority.  In October 2021 and then (again) in April 2023, the FTC sent letters to companies (in both instances, about seven hundred), including companies that market dietary supplements, alerting them that they could face civil penalties if they misrepresent endorsements, use fake reviews, or use misleading testimonials, or cannot back up their product claims.

Ms. van Laack will discuss the implications of these and other FTC developments for dietary supplement advertising.

2:20-2:35 pm: Break

2:35-3:25: Litigation Roundup: Trending Cases and Strategies

Presenters: Matthew Orr and William Cole from Amin Talati Wasserman, Kim R. Pearson, General Counsel of Thorne Pharmaceuticals.

Join this presentation to discuss the latest class action trends and litigation strategies in the supplement, food, beverage, and cosmetics categories.

3:25-4:20 pm: State of the Industry: Inside the Mind of the FDA and Global Updates

Presenter: Loren Israelsen, UNPA

Loren Israelsen has a pulse on the nutrition industry. Join his presentation on the latest issues including: Inside the mind of FDA : What lies ahead for dietary supplements ? (MPL, Harm Reduction category, Reorg of CFSAN, DSHEA Amendments), as well as an Update on China - Everything Old is New Again.