1. Purposes: The National Nutrition Alliance, an arm of the American College of Nutrition, was established to bring industry, academia, and nutrition practice together for the purpose of improving human health through better nutrition. NNA provides a unique opportunity for industry scientists to interact with academicians and practitioners on issues of mutual interest.
2. Goals:
- Education of the ACN’s membership as to nutritional issues of interest to industry.
- Education of corporations in the food/nutrition industry on nutritional issues affecting the population.
- Enhancement of academic/scientific approaches to deal with these issues.
- Increased ACN visibility and recognition by the media, policy makers, regulatory officials, and other societies.
- Increased corporate and individual membership in ACN and cooperation in attaining mutually defined goals.
- Stimulation of relevant nutrition research, scientific “white papers”, review articles, and journal supplements that clarify the safety of nutritional products and effects on health and disease.
- Provision to industry of unbiased, “arms length” opinions as the value of potential and marketed products.
- Provision of an interface between industry and the ACN’s expertise. (consultation, research collaboration, etc.)
3. Advantage of NNA Membership:
- Access to ACN leadership and scientific expertise for rapid consultative discussions.
- Opportunities to propose nutritional topics for symposium development at ACN meetings.
- Opportunities to propose nutritional topics for journal supplements.
- Access to European counterparts of ACN functions through the European Chapter of the ACN.
- Utilization of the ACN database of members, and other individuals with nutritional interests.
- Open communication among corporate members and thought leaders in nutrition, practicing nutritionists and dietitians.
4. Expectations: With NNA membership, industry scientists will be able to:
- Identify experts for consultation, research collaboration, etc.
- Bring new areas of research interest to the attention of academic and practicing members of the nutrition community.
- Leverage the mutual interests of industry members in research, regulatory proposals, government concerns, and scientific reviews.
- Refer media questions to ACN member experts.
- Interact with credible physicians/ nutritionists conducting research, patient care and teaching.
5. Composition: Corporate scientists and other company officials whose firms maintain responsible product development and marketing based on valid scientific reports. They should maintain a substantial, sustaining role in ACN’s activities by providing unrestricted non-promotional educational grant support.
6. Executive Committee: An Executive Committee (EC) consisting of two corporate members, three members of the ACN Board of Directors (BOD), and the ACN’s Executive Director are responsible for defining and implementing the NNA program, setting priorities, and assuring successful outcomes of NNA programs.
The EC meets at the same intervals as does the NNA, and also has several teleconferences throughout the year.
7. Meetings: NNA has two formal meetings annually, in the springtime at the ACN BOD mid-year meeting and in the fall, at ACN’s annual scientific meeting. Informal contacts are maintained throughout the year, as needed, primarily through email and teleconferences.
8. Application Process: New member applicants should be in the business of developing and marketing products based on valid science. These products, their labels and advertising should comply with relevant laws and regulations. Applicants should have a history of product safety, and should be in good standing with the FDA and FTC. Accepted applicants will be expected to provide substantial, sustained educational grant support to ACN. Decisions by the ACN Board of Directors regarding acceptance are final and not appealable.