A meta-analysis of walnuts by Harvard scientists has found diets rich in walnuts can significantly reduce cholesterol levels, supporting growing evidence to suggest these popular nuts can improve healthy blood lipid ratios.
American researchers have found red yeast rice to be effective in treating hyperlipidemia – the elevation of potentially damaging lipids in the blood – but who cannot tolerate statin treatment.
Consuming green tea may reduce levels of compounds linked to prostate cancer progression, according to findings of a small study with 26 men with prostate cancer.
French supplier Burgundy has developed a spinach extract it says has a higher antioxidant payload than vitamin E and which trades for about the same price as its standardized grape seed extract.
Tomato peel may enhance the nutritional profile of hamburgers with a dose of 4.9 mg of lycopene per 100 g of cooked hamburger achievable, report Spanish researchers.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has told Tetley Tea to amend advertising for a green tea product that implied antioxidant-derived energy and health benefits.
The European Botanical Forum (EBF) says the European Union nutrition and health claims process cannot “credibly proceed” in a climate where about half of the 4000+ health claims received by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have been returned...
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has come under attack for failing to pull contaminated versions of the herb, ginkgo biloba, from the market.
Tate & Lyle has continued its push into the health and wellness area by linking with a Canadian coffee and tea specialist to distribute a green tea extract in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Lallemand Health Ingredients and Decas Botanical Synergies have debuted a cranberry extract with 30 per cent proanthocyanidins (PACs), a level they say is the highest in the world.
An extract from the Middle Eastern herb Nigella sativa may not only stop the growth of pancreatic cancer, but inhibit the development of the tumours, suggest new results from the US.
Ocean Spray's Ingredient Technology Group is to hold online auctions for its cranberry concentrate, which it claims will help customers ensure supply and protect against commodity fluctuations.
The health boosting activity of curcumin may be due to the molecule’s ability to stabilise cell membranes and increase the cell’s resistance to infection, suggests a new study.
The world’s only officially mandated cranberry health claim will not be affected by the recent rejection of a similar claim at European Union level, according to the company that submitted the claim, Ocean Spray.
A chia seed is on the verge of difficult-to-come-by European Union Novel Foods approval for use in bread products, with further categories potentially coming onboard down the line.
Seventeen people have been poisoned by a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the German cities of Freiburg and Göttingen since 2005, according to a German report.
A polyphenol-rich pomegranate extract may reduce inflammation, and positively effect chronic disease risk, according to results of a new cell study from the US.
A combination of capsaicin and green tea could promote the feeling of fullness and sustain satiety, indicating it could be successful for weight management, says a new study.
UK billboard adverts proclaiming pomegranate juice could ‘cheat death’ have been deemed misleading and must not appear again, according to the voluntary advertising body there.
A Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) marketing itself as a botanical form of the male erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra, has been seized by UK authorities after it was found to contain pharmaceuticals at banned doses.
Dr Gareth Morgan, a partner in the London office of European law firm Taylor Wessing, says a recent European Court of Justice verdict may have a liberating effect on the European food supplements market.
UK clean-label ingredients specialist, Ulrick & Short, is targeting functional foods in a new Yorkshire-based, multi-party initiative that will deliver its first product by year’s end.
Daily consumption of broccoli sprouts may cut Helicobacter pylori infections, and offer protection against stomach ulcers, and maybe cancer, says a new study.
A scheme that aims to replace poppy plantations with pomegranate orchards in war-ravaged Afghanistan is winning support with up-market UK retailer Waitrose throwing its weight behind the project.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a product recall for two brands of anti-inflammatory turmeric food supplements found to be contaminated with the prohibited drug, nimesulide.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is reveiewing the process by which herbal products are transferred from the existing system to that established by the European Union Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD).
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has warned the UK public to avoid a brand of turmeric food supplements containing a drug called nimesulide after it was linked to two deaths and several liver damage cases in Scandinavia.
Young people are increasingly interested in getting their serve of fruit in a processed form and quickly turning away from whole fruits, according to author and editor, Julian Mellentin.
Stressing plants to induce their natural defences could lead to a new range of functional foods enriched with a plant's natural defensive compounds, phytoalexins.
The European Botanical Forum (EBF) has welcomed the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) judgement against Spain for not applying the principle of mutual recognition in its policy on botanical food supplements.
Consuming green tea may offer protection against gum disease, a condition that may affect over 30 per cent of the population, suggests a new study from Japan.
Stakeholders in the botanicals industry have again highlighted their concerns regarding the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) approach to health claims regulation in a meeting with the authority last week.
The influential UK-based consumer welfare advocate, Which?, has poured scorn on some functional foods, despite the fact 59 per cent of its highly sceptical members buy omega-3, probiotic and other functional foods.
A naturally occurring compound in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may help protect against asthma and other conditions due to respiratory inflammation, says a new study.
Cognis says the sale of its botanical extracts division to Burgundy Botanical Extracts Iberia will increase the company’s competitiveness and increase efficiencies.
UK start-up Evgen Limited has joined with a noted Danish vegetable researcher to bring broccoli extracts to market that have demonstrated anti-cancer potential.
Extracts from blueberries may reduce the size of tumours primarily found in infants and children, and improve survival, suggest new findings from a study with mice.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a negative opinion to global cranberry leader Ocean Spray for an article 14 health claim relating consumption of cranberry and urinary tract infection (UTI) in women.
European safety authorities and regulators will not review the safety of ingredients such as ginseng and guarana in caffeinated energy drinks despite issuing a verdict on chemicals like Taurine and D-glucurono-γ-lactone last week.
Phytopharm, the UK start-up Unilever dumped in November after spending more than €20m euros in a failed attempt to develop a hoodia-based weight management product, says it is in discussions with major food and food supplements players about the South...
Canadian scientists have found that the antioxidant power of garlic is related to the organic compound allicin, research that deepens our understanding of the potential benefits of this food and supplements favourite.
Regular visits from a rabbi to ensure Kosher certification are part of doing business for almost all ingredients suppliers in Israel. For SDA Spice, the largest botanicals supplier in the Middle East, Kosher is very much about quality control. VP of sales...
A Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) commissioned survey has found 77 per cent of adults believe botanical medicines should be regulated.
The European Food Safety Authority has turned down Unilever-submitted health claims linking black tea consumption and improved mental focus because they failed to demonstrate causality.
The European Botanical Forum (EBF) has released a “communication tool” it says will “correct some commonly-held misapprehensions about botanical food supplements”.
A workshop hosted by the European Botanical Forum has highlighted European Union mutual recognition principles that are due to become law in May, 2009, as a way to benefit the herbal sector.
