MARCH 4, 2021
'Supplement OWL' increases product transparency for broader audience with updated website
The Supplement OWL this week unveiled an updated website design to enhance transparency of dietary supplement products and manufacturers. The new design prioritizes user experience, broadens the registry audience to supplement users and regulators, and enables fuller industry participation in the voluntary product listing. 

"Participation in the OWL now is especially critical, as we recognize that this industry-administered registry serves as a template for a potential mandatory product listing concept FDA has proposed," CRN's Luke Huber, N.D., MBA, noted in this month's Nutrition Industry Executive. "Before there is an official government registry, the Supplement OWL serves as an important way to help foster trust with industry stakeholders and demonstrate industry responsibility and willingness to self-regulate."

The Supplement OWL website redesign is the latest in a series of ongoing upgrades to the product label database since 2020.
Advisory Board shares three 'Supplement OWL' best practices
"Once your company's labels are in the Supplement OWL registry, it's important to keep them current," CRN President & CEO Steve Mister advises. "Benefits of timely registry updates include greater visibility of your company’s new and reformulated products, as well as better accuracy for FDA users."

The Supplement OWL Advisory Board recommends that companies: 

SCHEDULE product information updates to the registry at least twice annually/every six months on a rolling basis with any new products or label changes to existing products.

REMOVE products from the registry when they are discontinued and all existing production in the marketplace has expired.

UPDATE listings immediately upon launch of new or reformulated products, when possible.
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“We are excited to be early adopters of the Supplement OWL, and our team continues to use this resource. The Supplement OWL provides significant value as it pertains to transparency and responsibility to the industry and its consumers.”

—Aaron Bartz, President, Ortho Molecular Products, Inc, and Supplement OWL Advisory Board member
'Supplement OWL' updates improve business user experience
Changes to the Supplement OWL aren't all about style—these substantive enhancements to the business user experience make it easier than ever to keep your company's listings up-to-date:

  • Multi-version tool adds additional versions of the same product 
  • Bulk upload capability for adding multiple products at once
  • "Supplier" feature allows brand owners to give their suppliers administrative rights to enter product information, but not to publish changes without brand owner review
  • “Export results” feature so users can download topline results of their searches 
  • “Save search” feature and an associated notification feature that informs users when additional items appear in their saved search
  • Brand owner and supplier guides to using the registry
  • Video guide for brand owners

Business users logged in to their Supplement OWL account can explore these features and use them today to make it easier to keep their company's listings updated. If you have questions about your company's designated business user or access to the OWL, please contact CRN's Luke Huber.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CRN DAILY SUPPLEMENT?
Please contact Emily Zavrel (ezavrel@crnusa.org).