News

GRMA harmonizes standards for dietary supplements, over-the-counter drugs and personal care products.

David Trosin | May 25, 2020

In the rapidly-changing world of retail, one challenge has been consistent: the complexity of compliance. Prior to the introduction of the Global Retailer and Manufacturer Alliance (GRMA) NSF/ANSI 455 standards, safety and quality criteria varied across retailers, creating an ungainly (and for some smaller manufacturers, impossible) web of expectations and requirements in assessing Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for entire aisles of consumer products.

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Since 1981, not long after the organization began, Brian Sharoff served as president of the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA). He died May 23 after a brief illness.

Over his nearly four decades leading the association, he oversaw its tremendous growth. The Private Label Trade Show in Chicago, for example, began in 1980, growing from an event with around 50 exhibitor booths to a massive event with 3,000 booths, thousands more in attendees, educational sessions and networking events.

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Departure of Randy Slikkers

Randy has been the GRMA’s CEO/Executive Director for the last two years, was a key driver with establishing the GRMA as a non-profit organization and we wish him luck with his pursuit of other opportunities outside of the GRMA. The GRMA would like to thank Randy for his contributions and leadership over the last two years and is appreciative of Randy’s guidance to the board, direction over the annual summit, and key contributions with both the pilot audit program and certification scheme. The [Read more]

GRMA is in the process of developing a Medical Device/Consumer Product (MD/CP) Standard. Our goal is to utilize a group of key industry stakeholders that represent the MD/CP sector to develop the standard over the remainder of 2019 and into the first quarter of 2020. Our strategy is to create a standard based on product risk that would encompass consumer goods, making the potential for true global acceptance. The GRMA will then adapt this standard into its array of audit schemes. This process is known as the “protocol method”. This [Read more]

Panel Discussion: CBD Product Standard Development: Alan Perlman (NSF) moderated a panel discussion of industry leaders at the GRMA Summit which centered around the complexities of the industry in relation to developing GMP Standards. Key discussion points included the need to connect GRMA with current GMP standard development activity by the industry. The question was raised as to the need to develop an entirely new standard or the potential to adopt the 455-2 Dietary Supplement Standard. Also discussed was the difficulty of working around the inclusion of hemp in the [Read more]