The Swedish National Food Agency (SLV) has released its first manual on best food supplement practice – something it says responds to the increasingly complex nature of the growing sector.
Although the mechanism of action is somewhat unclear, polyphenols have a solid and growing body of research backing their effect on the regulation of blood sugar levels, experts say.
Mars recently applied to patent a special single-serve beverage capsule it said would give more consistent dosing and less wastage of functional ingredients – from flavonoids and vitamins to minerals, antioxidants.
As obesity rates worldwide continue to rise and the related scourge of diabetes increases in lockstep, companies marketing ingredients in the United States intended to help consumers who find themselves sliding somewhere along this curve toward a full...
2014 was a great year for curcumin, and Sabinsa is expecting an even better 2015 with new data from a randomized clinical trial showing the ingredient’s ability to lower blood lipid levels and ‘opening up a new direction in the already robust body of...
A 9-study dossier linking herbal extract fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) and improved glycaemic response has been deemed insufficient by the EU’s central science agency. But the firm’s chief told us, “We do not see this as a rejection.”
As part of a second phase of its Botanical Adulterants Program, The American Botanical Council has released the first of a series of laboratory guidance documents, this one pertaining to the herb skullcap. First, the program alerted industry as to what...
An Israeli firm has debuted ‘his, her’s and theirs’ food supplements aimed at boosting the fertility of ageing couples who want children - the chances of pregnancy drop to as low as 5% after the age of 40.
The Dutch supplements trade group NPN has severed ties with EHPM, the Europe-wide group it was a founding member of, citing differences in approaches to EU health claim reform.
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told a hay fever botanical its mention of sneezing, itchy eyes and runny nose amounted to an unauthorised disease prevention claim.
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.
The Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA) says nearly 70% of ‘sexual potency’ food supplements it tested contained unlisted pharmaceutical ingredients.
With changes to labelling laws and a ban on sales to under 18s in Lithuania, ‘artificial’ caffeine is fast becoming one of the top ingredients in the health firing line, according to one analyst.
Dispatches from Health Ingredients Europe, Amsterdam
Naturex has developed prototype products using oat beta-glucans and glucomannan that can carry EFSA-approved claims relating to weight management and glycaemic responses.
Grape seed extracts have been showing up in increasing numbers in the dietary supplements marketplace driven by their connection with blood pressure support and other health benefits. But are all of these extracts what they seem to be? A recent paper...
Medicus Research has passed a milestone with the announcement of its 20th clinical trial using smartphone technology to enroll subjects and collect data. The technology continues to prove its robustness and cost effectiveness, said Medicus CEO Jay Udani...
The EU’s central science agency has rejected a health claim submission linking prunes (Prunus domestica L) with normal bowel function in under-3s for a lack of infant-specific data. A carbohydrate-based claim was also rejected while zinc and selenium...
A Dutch healthy foods and supplements association has proposed a traditional claims regulation or amendment to EU health claim laws it says would ‘elegantly’ solve the ongoing and stalled imbroglio about how traditional food use data can back claims.
Geneva will play host to the inaugural NutraIngredients Awards next May – bringing real reward and industry-wide recognition to the best ingredient, product and research innovators in Europe.
Soaring demand from China and an extremely steep rise in prices has distorted the market for the Peruvian botanical maca to the point where non Chinese buyers have been all but priced out of the trade. The influx of cash has brought violence, too, with...
Regulators in Italy’s €1.2bn food supplements market are cracking the harshest whips against health claims abusers in the EU – a firm was recently fined €250,000 – but will the wounds be deep enough to change the market?
Last week NutraIngredients published a guest article by author Bert Schwitters about the EU nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) that discussed the status of botanicals and associated claims in the European Union. Schwitters was not happy with...
Higher intakes of flavonoid compounds in the diet during middle age may boost healthy aging in women, according to data from 1,517 women from the Nurses’ Health Study.
The Danish food safety authority has issued a second warning on the illegal herbal weight loss ingredient Acacia rigidula – which contains substances implicated in a brain haemorrhage case in Sweden.
The demand for multi-page labelling on nutraceuticals is growing as consumers become more concerned about the content and origins of the products, according to a labelling firm.
Nutrition author, blogger and harsh critic of the EU’s health claim laws, Bert Schwitters, says any attempt to create separate rules for more than 1500 on-hold botanical claim applications is doomed to failure in this guest article.
A Mars-supported study suggests that cocoa flavanols in a functional drink may reverse age-related memory decline, but the same effect may not be true in chocolate.
France’s nutrivigilence work – launched in 2010 to ensure safety in food supplements and some foodstuffs – has improved the quality of the food supply, the country’s food safety agency has said.
Since 2008 the severity of the EU’s health claim laws has seen many firms seek other routes to back claims – the EU’s medical devices legal avenue being one of them. Amsterdam-based Maikel Hendriks, the CEO of Medical Brands, examines the controversial,...
The position of head of the directorate general for health and consumers (DG SANCO) will likely pass to Czech environmental politician Ladislav Miko following the resignation of Paola Testori Coggi, according to the European Commission.
The UK Health Food Manufacturers' Association (HFMA) appeal against the EU nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) has been heard in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) more than two years after it was lodged.
From an €80 million market for anti-ageing placenta supplements to the world’s most innovative (and fad-driven) functional foods and drinks market, Japan’s healthy ageing market is unique and instructive.
Next Tuesday NutraIngredients is proud to host our first healthy ageing forum, an hour long online discussion about a booming sector with leading experts.
Food Supplements Europe (FSE) has added to its Good Manufacturing Practices guide with a questionnaire to help firms meet GMP requirements and another for those in the botanicals sector.
Tony Abbott’s crusade to cut Australian bureaucratic red tape will now target the complementary medicines industry by considering a greater acceptance of international standards.
By RJ Whitehead and Shane Starling from FI-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia
Indonesia's food industry will continue to grow in importance as its population of around 300 million gains wealth, according to some voices in the halls of the Jakarta International Expo at Food Ingredients-Asia last week. But it may have some way...
The Danish food ministry has issued a warning on the weight loss product ‘7 Phenylstack’ following a risk assessment of a plant ingredient which contained amphetamine-like substances.
By Shane Starling at FI-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia
From tea yoghurt to coffee fruit energy, portable water enhancement to Milo’s brand expansions, Mintel shared category-busting innovation at Food Ingredients-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia, this week.
Daily supplements of a dried apple peel powder may improve joint function and reduce pain in healthy older people with a reduced range of motion in their joints, says a new study.
To a backdrop of the Asean regulatory harmonisation process, a number of European Union officials have descended on Kuala Lumpur to attend a forum designed to apply the older bloc’s knowledge on the subject.
Daily supplements of Pycnogenol, an extract from French maritime pine bark, may improve blood flow and reduce swelling, pain and the number of faulty veins post-pregnancy, says a new study from Italy.
By RJ Whitehead & Shane Starling from HI-Japan in Tokyo
Japan has always led the world in functional food experimentation even if the results of most of that have remained within the confines of the 127.3m-strong nation with the world's oldest average lifespan - 84.6 years.
