Organic & Natural Health Association (Organic & Natural) formed a year ago, dedicated to creating and promoting transparent business practices that safeguard access to organic and natural food, products and services. The nonprofit trade association whose founding board members include Todd Harrison, partner at Venable, LLP, Joe Sandler, partner of the Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C., and Charles Brown, national counsel for Consumers for Dental Choice, founder and president of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry and former attorney general of West Virginia, have been actively working on many initiatives to improve the integrity of the natural products industry while creating a groundswell of support from leading industry companies.

“We recognize that we are advocating for the highest level of standards and transparency for the industry and that there are some who may not feel ready for this level of scrutiny,” said Karen Howard, CEO and executive director of Organic & Natural. “Our leadership and membership is comprised of first-rate companies and consumer organizations that understand we have to put the integrity of the industry first as part of a long-term strategy. It’s the only way we will ultimately win consumer trust and loyalty.”

Board leadership for Organic & Natural also includes Steve Rye, CEO of Mercola Health Resources, Alan Lewis, director of food and agriculture policy at Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Todd Norton, vice president of business development at Aker BioMarine, Reid Tracy, president and CEO of Hay House Inc., Dan Lifton, CEO for Quality of Life Labs, Chris Holland, vice president of sales and marketing for Beijing Gingko Group North America (BGG) and Patrick Sullivan, Jr., president and co-founder of Jigsaw Health.