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).
Hundreds of botanical products face removal from the UK market if
their manufacturers do not submit applications to have them
registered under the European Union Traditional Herbal Medicinal
Products Directive (THMPD) directive.
An industry-led campaign to educate Congress staff about dietary
supplements in sports nutrition has kicked into action with the
first in a series of meetings with key personnel.
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 Canadian natural foods industry has embarked on a major
lobbying campaign, calling for an overhaul to legislation that
could place pharmaceutical controls on dietary supplements.
Researchers at Tufts University have suggested inadequate
vitamin B6 levels across large sections of the US population, which
could be reduced via supplementation.
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.
Higher vitamin D levels from exposure to sunlight, specifically
ultraviolet B (UVB), may reduce the incidence of breast cancer,
according to a new study.
European food supplements companies need to up the ante on
self-regulation in the absence of codified and harmonised quality
control standards, according the European Federation of Health
Product Manufacturers (EHPM).
A petition seeking to classify all weight loss claims as drug
claims highlights the major ingredients used in weight loss
supplements, and maintains that these are not sufficiently
substantiated, that they are ineffective, or that...
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.
Poland's food supplements market is growing at a rampant 30 per
cent but may be hamstrung by moves to classify a range of food
supplements as drugs, according to a report from a market
researcher there.
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.
A meta-analysis of 67 randomised trials with antioxidant
supplements has reported that vitamins A and E, and beta-carotene
may increase mortality risk by up to 16 per cent.
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.
Energy drinks are a runaway success but extreme marketing and
product formulation has the potential to cast a shadow over the
multi-billion dollar global industry.
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.
An Irish health food store association will have its pro-high-dose
food supplements petition considered by the European Commission
after it was deemed 'admissible' by a European Parliament
committee.
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.
As the European Union debate over maximum and minimum nutrient
levels in supplements and functional foods moves closer to a mooted
January 2009 denouement, a key lobbyist says "it is all to play
for".
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.
Twenty European and American companies heard presentations from
three food law experts and participated in a lively floor debate
and Q&A session at a recently held one-day event in Brussels
designed to give "practical tips...
Indian firm Avesthagen has launched seven new botanical bioactives
which are targeted at specific degenerative conditions like
diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The US, Europe and Japan will continue to drive the global
nutraceuticals market, although growth in dietary supplements is
expected to slow, according to a new report.
