CRN’s President & CEO Steve Mister broke down the unintended consequences of California State Bill 646, which mandates public reporting of heavy metal test results in prenatal supplements. While testing itself is not new for responsible manufacturers, the real concern is that trace amounts of naturally occurring heavy metals could frighten pregnant women into avoiding crucial vitamins altogether.
Mister explained that manufacturers may respond to the tests by reducing or eliminating essential nutrients like iron and calcium to achieve lower heavy metal readings, potentially creating serious health risks for mothers and babies.
“The legislation, as it was originally written, even required QR codes on the label,” Mister said. “We were able to get that removed.”
“When people go to these sites to get the test results, we were also able to get mandatory language put into the bill that will have to appear on the sites to try and give women some context around what they’re looking at,” he added. “But yes, at the end of the day, when someone looks at a test and sees a positive hit for a heavy metal, they may decide not to take the product at all when in fact the level, albeit detectable, is not harmful to them at all.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign off on SB 646.
New York
On the east coast, Megan Olsen, CRN’s senior vice president and general counsel, highlighted a petition to the Department of Justice regarding New York’s law that restricts supplement sales to minors for weight loss and muscle building products. CRN argues this law violates First Amendment rights and conflicts with FDA jurisdiction that could lead to nationwide commerce issues.
“The New York law, just a little bit of background, restricts the sale of products in the state for those under the age of 18 if the product is marketed, represented, labeled as being for weight loss or muscle building, but [there is] not a lot of guidance or other information around that kind of ambiguous statement and types of claims that products could be making,” said Olsen.
“Other states have been looking at similar types of legislation, but New York so far is the only state that has enacted such a law. So CRN is very concerned about the effects that this will have nationwide and the effect that this has on constitutional rights.”
This DOJ filing raises questions not just about New York’s policy, but about how federal and state authority intersect in regulating dietary supplements—and whether other states may follow suit.
Coming up, CRN will host its CONVERGENCE ’25 conference, taking place October 8-10 at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis. The event will address state-level regulations, the MAHA movement and feature FDA’s Kyle Diamantis, among other notable speakers.
To hear more on the conference and other regulatory matters CRN is watching, listen to the NutraCast above or on your preferred podcast platform.
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