An article appearing in the British Medical Journal says that food and supplement products targeting weight loss are ineffective and misleading for consumers.
France has not been the fastest uptaker of European Union food supplement laws, but market liberalisation is underway, says French food supplements association (Synadiet) president, Alban Maggiar. If only EFSA would stop being so "Soviet-like"...
Consumers are not sure whether they are gaining enough omega-3 from functional foods, says Mintel, and the ingredient could be best suited to dietary supplements after all.
This year’s Beijing Olympic Games may have been good for China’s public image but the smooth running of the event was built on multiple state-prompted sacrifices and the food ingredients industry was one of the lambs that copped it in the neck for ‘the...
A Brussels workshop has highlighted global regulatory issues affecting the food supplements industry, and found many companies are unclear about law changes that directly affect them.
Manufacturers are hungry for ingredients that can aid weight management, says a new report from Euromonitor, but long-term advantages will only come with legislative approval and consumer education.
The UK Medicinal Health products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned a number of products being sold as “Golden Root Complex” to cease marketing themselves being registered and approved by the MHRA.
A website designed to educate consumers about the “threat to vitamins and minerals from the Foods Supplements Directive” has been launched in the UK by the British actress Jenny Seagrove.
EFSA has backed an earlier Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) opinion concluding calcium sulphate can be safely used as a calcium source in food supplements.
Investment from local, Western and Chinese companies as well as wealthier, increasingly well-educated consumers are driving rapid growth in the Russian food supplements market.
Central and Eastern Europe’s biggest food supplements manufacturer, Walmark, has taken 100 per cent control of fellow Czech sports nutrition specialist, Aminostar, in an undisclosed deal.
Mooted restrictions on high-dose food supplements by various pieces of European food law are disproportionate to the public risk posed, according to pan-European law reform group, the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH).
Pan-European health and nutrition claims moved a step closer to reality after 2870 claims were delivered to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for assessment by January, 2010.
A UK start-up has launched with the aim of fast-tracking the process by which novel ingredients and technologies migrate from the academic arena to fully-branded, on-market, functional food status.
UK Sport has altered its position in regard to the use of food supplements and now says supplements such as whey, isotonic drinks, creatine and multivitamin and mineral complexes should be safe in most cases.
A US product survey has found that four out of ten red yeast rice
supplements were contaminated with a fungal substance called
citrinin that has been linked with kidney problems in animal and
human populations.
The use of rising eye health phytonutrient, zeaxanthin, in food
supplements in doses of up to 20mg has been rejected by the
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Mangosteen pioneer Xango has taken a major category leap by
launching a range of dietary supplements in the US with Canada and
Mexico to follow later in the year.
The launch of a plant sterol-aspirin combination product being
marketed as both a dietary supplement and a drug, highlights a
legal grey area that requires refinement, according to the American
Herbal Products Association (AHPA).
The Danish Medicines Agency has issued a public warning against an
illegal ephedrine-containing supplement that has been linked with
several adverse event reports and one death.
Rising Czech nutraceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturer,
Walmark, has gained the right to produce and distribute several
brands from American pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squib (BMS)
including supplement products, as its eastern...
A new dietary supplement ingredient combines different extracts
from the pomegranate fruit, which is said to provide a tailor-made
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory blend for supplement makers.
A Guernsey-based company has been told by the voluntary watchdog,
the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), to withdraw an advert
for a prostate supplement because it failed to provide supporting
evidence for its claims.
NZTE is a government-backed scheme that has helped Kiwi ingredients start-ups compete with companies with much deeper pockets around the globe. Andrew Easdale, business development manager at NZTE's UK office, explains the benefits.
The soy ingredients market has grown up a lot in 20 years. Solbar vice president of marketing and development Gary Brenner casts an eye over a mature ingredients sector.
Robinson Pharma marketing vice president, Kenn Israel, discusses the recent GlaxoSmithKline petition for weight loss claims be treated as disease claims, and the potential impact of this on the dietary supplement market.
A petition by drug firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) requesting that
weight loss claims be treated as disease claims maintains that
there is no credible science to back up weight loss ingredients
used in dietary supplements.
A petition filed with the US FDA calling for the agency to treat weight loss claims as disease claims could wipe the weight loss category from the dietary supplement map.
A pan-European healthy food and supplements trade group has
criticised the UK's "first professor of complementary
medicine", Edzard Ernst, for taking an "unscientific"
approach in a new book.
Lifelong supplementation with the prebiotics inulin and
oligofructose may extend lifespan by over 30 per cent, according to
a new animal study from France.
The recent food supplements contamination case that led to banning
from competition of a number of Greek weightlifters, would never
have happened in the Netherlands, according to the trade
association there.
Food supplements manufacturers may have to reformulate thousands of
products aimed at both children and adults if calls for bans on the
use of certain artificial colours become reality.
Greece's Olympic weightlifting team is blaming contaminated
Chinese-made food supplements for some of its members being charged
with doping violations.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) expects to process
applications for 1000-2000 health claims, 900 food additives and
2800 flavours in the next 12 months, according to EFSA executive
director, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle.
A UK-based food supplements comparison website has launched today
that rates the 20,000+ products on-market there in a bid to provide
consumers with unbiased purchasing advice.
Finnish pharma player Actavis has launched three ranges of VMS and
herbal products in Bulgaria with more planned as the company
attempts to meet revenue growth targets of 20 per cent by 2010.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has removed a section
devoted to Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) from its
website in a move that has caused consternation throughout the
British CAM community.
Poland has established a government-backed group briefed with
developing criteria relating to the classification of a range of
nutrients under either food or medicine law.
Food supplements should be exempt from European nutrient profiling
regulations because their fat, salt and sugar levels are scant
enough not to warrant concern, according to an industry group.
Supplementing the diet of elderly people with the full set of
essential amino acids can boost their lean body mass, strength and
physical function, according to a new study.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) has requested that the
FDA withdraw its guidance on the labeling of dietary supplements,
suggesting it is unnecessary and potentially misleading for
consumers.
Danisco has today said it has entered into a new licence agreement
with Fonterra for the "long term use" of two probiotic strains,
which will see them added in supplements.
