John Venardos
Chair, CRN International, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Regulatory, Government and Industry Affairs, Herbalife, Ltd.

Since his time as a graduate intern to the speaker of the House, John has played a role in shaping government and regulatory policies. He has worked with officials around the globe since joining Herbalife in 1997, discussing regulations affecting the business, products and Distributors. He and his team ensure product formulae, claims and literature comply with global regulations.

His accomplishments are vast, including successfully lobbying the U.S. government to pass legislation (now law) mandating the reporting of all serious dietary supplement and OTC adverse events to FDA. He helped obtain Herbalife’s direct selling licenses in China. Under appointment by the US Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce, he is addressing distribution service issues around the globe. And he created the nutritional products industry’s largest Political Action Committee. 

He and his staff represent Herbalife with government and regulatory agencies in 76 markets including the Food & Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission, Codex Alimentarius and with regulators from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This Fall, Venardos will chair the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s annual conference and the CRN-International workshop in Baden Soden, Germany (November 11). He also will chair regulatory workshops in Asuncion, Paraguay (September 5); Lima, Peru (September 7) and Mexico City), plus will discuss the current U.S. regulatory climate at Supply Side West (October 12).

Also, Venardos represents Herbalife with key external organizations:

• International Alliance of Dietary Supplement Associations (IADSA)
• American Botanicals Council
• American Herbal Products Association
• Association for International Food and Nutrition of Japan (chair)
• Canadian Health Foods Association
• Council for Responsible Nutrition (board; chairs International Trade & Market Development Committee; member Regulatory Affairs Committee)
• Direct Selling Association (Government Affairs and International Council)
• International Aloe Science Council (board)
• Natural Products Association (board; chairs NPA ComPLI Committee; chairs NPA International Working Group)
• World Federation of Direct Selling Associations.

For 10 years prior to Herbalife, Venardos handled government and regulatory affairs at Pfizer Inc, and before that, at NutraSweet Company. He also served as regional political director in Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaigns.