The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a leading trade association in the dietary supplement industry, awarded its prestigious "CRN (Steuben) Apple" to three prominent dietary supplement executives during a ceremony on September 25, 2005, at CRN's annual symposium on dietary supplements in Indian Wells, California. The 2005 "CRN Apple" recipients are Edward Croom, PhD, consultant for scientific and regulatory affairs at Indena; Joy Joseph, formerly of Pharmavite LLC; and John Hathcock, PhD, of CRN. The "CRN Apple" award is presented annually by CRN in recognition of an individual's dedication, commitment, and service to the organization and the dietary supplement industry.
Dr. Croom, an ethnobotanist and pharmacognosist, began working with CRN as an independent scientific advisor and was instrumental in helping CRN form a botanicals committee by serving as committee chair. As manager of scientific and regulatory affairs for Indena USA (a division of Indena, the large Milan, Italy-based worldwide supplier of standardized botanical extracts), he was also elected to the CRN Board of Directors. A longtime advocate of improved quality control for botanicals as well as more rigorous substantiation of claims, Dr. Croom is an expert in applying the science of natural products to enhance human health. Dr. Croom has served as an advisor for many government agencies in the United States and Canada, including the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, the US Food and Drug Administration, the Canadian Natural Health Products Directorate, and the World Health Organization. He was a research scientist with the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacognosy Department in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi from 1982-2000. He currently is an adjunct associate professor of Pharmacognosy at the University of Mississippi, consultant for scientific and regulatory affairs for Indena, a member of the CRN Senior Scientific Advisory Council, and a longtime member of the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council.
After 25 years with Pharmavite, a leading producer of dietary supplements in the mainstream market, Ms. Joseph recently retired from her position as vice president of quality, technical operations, and product development where she directed and supervised the company's quality control laboratories, research and development of test methods, and new product development. She has been involved with CRN for more than 20 years and has worked on numerous committees, including Quality Standards and GMP Readiness Working Group. CRN believes that Ms. Joseph is one of the industry's leading forces in creating standards by which all dietary supplements are now measured. She intends to remain active in industry affairs, maintaining a consultancy with Pharmavite, and serving as chair of the Dietary Supplements, Nonbotanicals Expert Committee, and as a member of the Council of Experts Executive Committee.
For the past 10 years, John Hathcock, PhD, has served as vice president for scientific and international affairs at CRN. He is responsible for scientific review and regulatory interpretation, specializing in safety and international issues. In addition to publishing numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles, he is the author of CRN's Vitamin and Mineral Safety. Dr. Hathcock regularly presents at major national and international conferences on food safety and regulatory issues, analyzes and develops CRN policy positions, and speaks on international regulations and issues, including those pertaining to the Codex Alimentarius and the European Commission. He serves as staff liaison for the CRN International Trade and Market Development Committee, and is well-known for his opinions on the "precautionary principle." Prior to joining CRN, Dr. Hathcock served at the Food and Drug Administration where he worked in areas related to food safety.
More information about CRN is available on its Web site at www.crnusa.org.
—Mark Blumenthal
Source: Industry experts honored at CRN 2005 Annual Conference [press release]. Washington, DC: Council for Responsible Nutrition, September 26, 2005.