July 28th, 2020
THE AMERICAN KRATOM ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES THE
“KRATOM TRUTH IN LABELING COMPLIANCE PROGRAM” TO PROTECT CONSUMERS
The American Kratom Association (AKA), representing more than 15 million kratom consumers in the United States, today announced a new consumer protection initiative, the Kratom Truth in Labeling Compliance Program. The AKA strongly opposes unscrupulous vendors who use illegal health claims to increase sales of kratom products. This new self-regulation program will encourage consumers to report potential marketing violations so that the FDA can investigate and, when appropriate, take needed enforcement actions against kratom vendors who use impermissible health claims to mislead consumers about the actual benefits of using this otherwise safe food product.
Mac Haddow, Senior Fellow on Public Policy for the AKA, called this new program an essential step “to bring more accountability to the kratom vendor community and to stop the misbranding and deceptive advertising that leads unsuspecting consumers to purchase adulterated or misbranded kratom products.”
Haddow stated “the new Kratom Truth in Labeling Compliance Program will be a valuable addition to the current AKA vendor GMP program that requires participating vendors to adhere to good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and to submit to an independent 3rd party audit to verify compliance.”
Kratom sales have increased dramatically in the United States since 2016 when the FDA recommended classifying kratom’s alkaloids as Schedule I banned substances. “The FDA’s data supporting that Schedule I recommendation was actually based on dangerously adulterated and misbranded kratom products, not safe and pure kratom,” Haddow continued. “The AKA is committed to a partnership with the FDA to protect consumers from the real problem of dangerously adulterated and misbranded kratom products.”
The new Kratom Truth in Labeling Compliance Program will encourage consumers to report vendors who appear to be making impermissible health claims, and if found to be credible, the AKA will refer the complaints to the FDA.
