Natural Alternatives International first company to meet SSCI benchmarking standards

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Natural Alternatives International (NAI; Washington, D.C.) is the first company to meet new safety and benchmarking standards created by the Supplement Safety and Compliance Initiative (SSCI), following a five year effort by leading dietary supplement retailers, including Walmart and GNC, in collaboration with the Natural Products Association to set globally harmonized benchmarking standards. Walmart, GNC, as well as Amazon are among the leading dietary supplement retailers that acknowledge SSCI as a benchmarking standard companies must meet to sell products through their platforms.

“SSCI brings some of the largest retailers, raw material manufacturers and suppliers, dietary supplement manufacturers and other stakeholders together to assist in strengthening safeguards and helping to ensure regulatory compliance from harvest to retailer shelf,” said Dadrion Gaston, senior director corporate compliance, health and wellness product and supply chain safety for Walmart, and SSCI board member, in a press release.

“SSCI is a retailer-led initiative looking to establish the guidance and thought systems necessary to ensure quality, authenticity, safety, and cGMP compliance needed to reduce safety risk,” added Sudipta Veeramachaneni, PhD, vice president of global research and development and innovation for GNC, and SSCI board member.

“The goal for SSCI was to establish a system with the understanding that the FDA can’t solve all our problems,” explained Daniel Fabricant, PhD, president and CEO of NPA, in a press release. “Instead, we’re going to show consumers and regulators that they can have confidence in the industry, and this industry-wide effort is how we are going to do that.”