Bilberry extract and lactoferrin among 10 ingredients under review in Korea
South Korea’s MFDS has announced it will re-evaluate the safety and functionality claims of bilberry extract, lactoferrin and eight other ingredients in 2027.
Companies marketing these ingredients have until Dec. 31, 2026, to submit safety and efficacy data to the regulator as part of the re-evaluation.
Other ingredients earmarked for re-evaluation are milk protein extract, fingerroot extract powder, pumpkin seed extract complex, pine needle distillate concentrate, Pacran cranberry powder, Pu-erh tea extract, UREX probiotics and freeze-dried silkworm powder.
Science vs politics: Kiwi’s long road to EU health-claim approval
It took four years after Europe’s food-safety scientists backed green kiwifruit’s digestive-health claim for regulators in Brussels to approve it, raising the bigger question: What happens when the science is settled, but the politics are not?
In August 2025, New Zealand-based Zespri, the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, announced that the European Commission had approved what it described as the first health claim for a fresh fruit - after four years of receiving a positive scientific opinion from the European Food Safety Authority.
According to Bregt Raus, managing associate at Belgian law firm Altius, the delay was both procedural and political, driven by a governance layer that operates without real-time pressure, even when the underlying science is no longer in dispute.
Australia’s TGA releases guidance on NMN, NAD+ and NADH product naming
Australia’s TGA has released guidance on how NMN, NAD+, NAD and NADH can be represented in health supplements, with implications for naming, labeling and advertising requirements.
In the guidance document published on Aug. 12, the TGA gave examples of how “NAD”, “Bean’s NADH Supplement”, “NAD+ 50″, “NAD Booster” and “NAD+ Enhance” are unacceptable when naming supplement products.
This is because such product names may imply the presence of NAD+ or NAD as ingredients, which is not the case, since these ingredients are not yet permitted for use in complementary medicines in Australia.
FDA wants more GRAS oversight – but can it handle the workload?
The US FDA’s recently proposed rule to move Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notifications from voluntary to mandatory could potentially cause bottlenecks in notification reviews and other challenges.
For instance, whether the US FDA has the legal authority to require the notifications, and whether it has the staff and resources to process what could be a surge in submissions, remain unresolved.
Stakeholders currently have until December 11 to submit their comments on the proposal.
Timeline: How turmeric supplements brought bioavailability and idiosyncrasy into regulatory focus
Regulatory warnings about rare cases of liver injury linked to turmeric supplementation are mounting, as expert committees continue to raise questions about the cause and source of potential toxicity of an herb consumed by millions of people worldwide.
Regulatory action to date indicates that toxicity concerns do not appear to apply to turmeric consumed in the typical diet.
Rather, the expert committees consulted by regulators suggest that increased systemic exposure resulting from the enhanced bioavailability has coincided with reports of rare, and sometimes severe, liver injury in susceptible individuals.