While consumer awareness of the benefits of omega-3s is high and positive, consumer usage of dietary supplements is low, according to new data from focus groups funded by GOED.
The next few years could be a turbulent time for the omega-3 industry with results from several very large randomized control trials due to be published, but regardless of the results the totality of the evidence still supports significant benefits from...
After three days of learning and debating the current state of business and science in the microbiome, probiotic and prebiotic space, our co-chairs of the IPA World Congress + Probiota 2018 share their own thoughts and personal take-away messages.
Research findings that claim the use of calcium and vitamin D supplements have no effect on fracture risk were dismissed by two industry groups, who both reiterate the nutrients’ safety and importance.
Optimism and uncertainty seemed to define the omega-3 universe in 2017, which may seem strange since these two attributes are seemingly at opposite ends of an emotional spectrum. However, when an industry has gone through the type of turbulence the omega-3...
By George Paraskevakos, Executive Director of the International Probiotics Association
Despite the connotation of medieval military expeditions when one speaks of crusades, the one which IPA has taken on the last year has not resulted into any blood being spilt. On the contrary, the probiotic crusades have been constructive, open and accepting...
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are expensive to conduct, and for supplements, do not have the prospect of ‘blockbuster’ drug revenues at the end. Careful design is critical to avoid mistakes.
A group of scientists and doctors who call themselves the “Friends of Science in Medicine” (FSM) are relaunching an attack on complementary medicine, writes Dr Ross Walker, an expert in the field of preventative cardiology in Australia.
After a few years of negativity, the industry has a spring in its step again. But with renewed optimism comes the question of where the future successes lie.
"The consequence of this is a fundamental blow to the belief in health claims as a magic bullet."
Consumers have never been more confused about food, argues Healthy Food Marketing chief Peter Wennstrom in this guest article. The food industry needs to step up...
Products such as probiotic pizza, probiotic snack bars, high-fibre chicken or fish-oil fortified yoghurt may seem bizarre, says market expert Julian Mellentin in this guest article, but since 1990 thousands of products like this have been launched – and...
‘Don’t take sports supplements, they can’t be trusted’ was the takeaway message from Welsh track stars Rhys Williams and Gareth Warburton after the recent UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) tribunal agreed steroids got into their blood streams via contaminated sports...
By Adam Ismail, Executive director, Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3
Inflammation defines the era we live in today. I do not mean inflammation as it relates to health, instead I am referring to the inflammation of information and how consumers devour it.
New technologies are vital to the future growth of the food and nutrition industry, but their future success depends on much more than the science behind them.
An ingredient industry more focused on health claims than in educating consumers is actively destroying the market for both itself and it's customers, says Healthy Marketing Team president and expert consultant, Peter Wennstrom, in this guest article.
Market pre-eminence has reduced food to a commodity subject to financial speculation, Pope Francis told attendees at a major nutrition conference in Rome this morning.
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) insistence on keeping well within its scientific box is both a source of frustration and comfort for onlookers.
If the European Court redefines obesity as a disability, the rules of responsibility could shift horribly away from the parties involved - including the food industry.
It was big news… and positive: A new meta-analysis of 70 randomized clinical trials – the gold standard – showed that omega-3s from supplements and fortified foods could significantly improve blood pressure. So why is the mainstream media silent over...
For 12 days the 22nd Winter Olympiad in Sochi, Russia, had escaped the scourge of doping. It may not have escaped the scourge of homophobic ranting from its paragon-of-progress president, Vladimir Putin, but it had been drug-free.
Dr Patrick Moore – Greenpeace founding member and GM defector – represents a fear that lurks in the heart of all ideologists: Am I on the right side of the fence? Am I the goodie or the baddie?
If the end goal of both the medical and nutritional fraternities is healthier, happier populations, it is difficult not to pour scorn on the latest work from the American College of Physicians (ACP) for slapping another clumsy brick into a dodgy, medically-biased...
Acute non-viral hepatitis is tragic, whether it’s potentially linked to a product labeled as a dietary supplement or not. It is also tragic when critics of supplements use it as a stick to beat the entire industry with, despite there being many unanswered...
Thousands of nutritionists gathered in Granada, Spain, last week for the 20th International Congress of Nutrition. It was a huge event with eight simultaneous streams of seminars over a full week.
The global botanical medicines and supplements sector is a fragile one, and one whose fragility is being amplified by a small number of – let’s not beat about the sea buckthorn bush – dodgy players.
There’s a marketing experiment going on in the yoghurt aisle. Two yoghurt brands recently have positioned themselves as ‘yoghurt for men’. Is ordinary yoghurt really so girly?
Last week NutraIngredients was one of 10 organisations invited to observe the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) health claims panel in action for a day at its Parma, Italy, base.
In just the first weekend of new regulations designed to prohibit the trafficking of infant formula out of Hong Kong, border patrols had already arrested around 45 traders.
The dietary supplements industry should be encouraged and not threatened by increased scrutiny of its products by the mainstream medical community, because it means they are taking the products – and the questions from their patients – seriously.
In just a few years the global health and wellness (H&W) products sector will be worth $1 trillion dollars – that’s a lot of billion dollar blockbuster drugs.
A French study on the effects of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) maize in rats has said little about the safety or otherwise of GM crops – but it has said plenty about how the media can be used to push an agenda.
Western breakfast brands don’t often work in China. They need manipulating to appeal to very different tastes, packaging and format preferences and, of course, another language.
There is a moment at the end of the legendary computer game, Mortal Kombat, where you have just beaten seven shades of something out of your opponent and all that is left is one final blow. ‘Finish him!’ says the game, and you ready your thumbs for the coup...
Yesterday a large scale scientific review revealed that organic produce may not be more nutritious than ‘conventionally’ produced goods. But since that isn’t the main reason people buy them, does it really even matter?
As reports surface that New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, has subpoenaed Monster and PepsiCo in relation to their energy drinks, we ask whether the segment can keep its leather-jacketed cool...
The more we move, the slimmer we will become, right? However, with ballooning obesity rates over the past 30 years, research suggests that this is not the case. US adults are moving more than ever – but eating more than ever too.
Sourcing cocoa from certified farms can minimise incidence of child labour, but if that’s enough, why else should chocolate manufacturers commit to third-party certification?
Barely a week goes by without another food company being challenged in court over its use of the word ‘natural’ – and it’s just a matter of time before the claim loses its front-and-center on-pack appeal.
According to beauty from within expert Mai Nygaard, as beverages take up the position of biggest trend within the sector, consumers are more likely to embrace a beauty food if it comes from a cosmetic manufacturer they already trust in.
Company mottos and mission statements are marvelous – they talk about lofty goals, commitments to people and the environment, and leaving the planet a better place than how they found it. But boil it all down and there are only two words that companies...
Vitafoods celebrates its 15th birthday next week. It’ll be my 11th consecutive May visit to Geneva for the jamboree and promises to be one of the most intriguing chapters with the (partial and belated) resolution of years of ambiguity regarding health...
They’ve had the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads for months. So when 10 firms selling DMAA supplements were finally told to put up or shut up by the FDA last week, it looked like the game might finally be up for the controversial stimulant.
An overwhelming chorus of “eww, that sounds gross!” alongside some scary junk science about ammonium hydroxide, has led to a safe, nutritious product being pulled from stores – but there is an important lesson here for industry.
USP Labs and other manufacturers and retailers that trade in products that contain the pre-workout stimulant DMAA are feeling the heat at the moment as scrutiny around the source and safety of the compound mounts.
Anyone who has spent any appreciable amount of time working in the food industry realises that the issue of ‘junk food’ marketing to children is a hydra that rears two heads for every one cut off.
Five years ago the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) became law. Around the bloc, hopeful EU healthy foods and supplements stakeholders submitted more than 44,000 health claim applications.
As the furor fades over whether multivitamins boost mortality risk, a new study shows the true benefits of supplements, and industry shouldn’t be timid in promoting the implications.
During a week when the industry gathered under clear blue skies in Las Vegas to celebrate 15 years of SupplySide West, black clouds rolled in and unleashed a short sharp downpour: I am of course referring to the articles published on multivitamins and...
