The European Parliament voted yesterday to radically modify the
proposed regulation on nutrition and health claims so that food
companies do not need to gain prior authorization for claims, nor
subject their healtlh products to nutrient...
Proposals to create a list of about 100 vitamins and mineral
substances that may be added to foods are being debated in the
European Parliament today, part of the long process of harmonising
food legislation in the bloc, reports Ahmed...
The UK's presidency of the European Union in July gives it a unique
position to influence the outcome of Europe's food supplements
directive, due to take effect in August but subject to a rewrite if
a European court decision...
The future of hoodia supplements in Europe has been thrown into
doubt by a recent product recall in the Netherlands, alerting all
member states to the herbal's questionable regulatory status,
reports Dominique Patton.
Functional food makers need to take a critical look at the level of
substantiation behind the health claims they are using to guarantee
their survival under a new European regulation, reports
Dominique Patton.
Finland's largest grocery chain Kesko has launched a range of
yogurts that include Forbes Medi-Tech's cholesterol-lowering
ingredient, Reducol, the Canadian firm said on Monday.
BASF invited in the American Institute of Baking (AIB) to audit
various production facilities and scored 910 out of a possible 1000
points for food safety at its calpan plant in Ludwigshafen,
Germany.
Environment Committee at Europe's Parliament votes to delete
controversial article four on nutrient profiles and redraft article
11, in proposed rules for nutrition and health claims.
The European Union's food supplement directive, set to enter into
force in August, infringes basic principles of European law and
should be rewritten, a senior judge said yesterday.
The European Commission has given researchers €3 million to
investigate how nutritional and environmental factors impact the
early onset of puberty, increasingly observed in European
countries.
Use of herbal medicine in German and France is the most widespread
in Europe, according to a report published in the New England
Journal of Medicine yesterday.
Health claims about a product's effect on slimming or psychological
functions could be allowed under new European regulations via an
authorization procedure, according to one of the proposed
amendments to the draft law that looks...
Manufacturers of sports nutrition products will have to clean up or
face the consequences of increased scrutiny from Europe, which this
week called for further action against doping.
Finnish plant sterol maker Raisio has acquired a 25 per cent stake
in Polish dairy Obory that will allow it to launch new Benecol
products in the emerging market.
An amendment to the nutrition and health claims regulation
currently being discussed by members of the European parliament
could give Britain an opt-out clause to the food supplements
directive being enforced across the EU from August...
Canadian biotech firm Forbes Medi-Tech said this week that it has
gained European approval to market its cholesterol-lowering
ingredient Reducol in seven new food applications.
A legal action brought by a northern English cheese producer
against the European Commission over the right to use the label
feta on its products has finally reached the European Court of
Justice - the UK, however, has declined to...
The European food industry could see a unified version of labels on
foodstuffs, and accompanying cost-savings, as Europe's executive
arm calls for standardised labels across the EU, writes Lindsey
Partos.
Strong year-on-year sales growth and a major new plant expansion at
premix leader Fortitech's Europe base demonstrates the insatiable
appetite for fortified foods in the region, writes Dominique
Patton.
UK trade associations were upbeat yesterday after presenting their
arguments for a rewrite of the European foods supplements directive
at the European court in Luxembourg.
A group of noni juice producers from the Pacific islands has become
the first trade association to gain novel foods approval for their
products to be sold in the EU.
New ingredients supplier Valensa, a joint venture between US Nutra
and Israel-based Algatechnologies, has appointed Chesham Chemicals
as its exclusive distributor in the UK and Ireland.
The UK's medicines regulator is setting up a new herbal medicines
advisory committee to provide it with expert advice on herbal
medicines in anticipation of the forthcomin European traditional
medicinal herbal products directive.
Unilever's cholesterol-lowering Becel Pro.activ milk drink has
become the fifth product to earn a product-specific health claim
under Sweden's health claims system.
The mineral supplement chromium picolinate has been given the
all-clear by the UK's food authority. It is a strong sign that the
compound could be accepted across Europe under the forthcoming
supplements directive, writes Dominique...
The UK's supplement industry is preparing its case against the
European food supplement directive, to be heard by the European
Court of Justice next month.
The Netherlands has been told that it must allow the marketing of
foods with added vitamins and minerals without requiring
manufacturers to prove that there is a 'nutritional' need for such
products.
The controversial issue of nutritional profiles will remain one of
the biggest hurdles for EU legislation on health claims but recent
reports suggest that Germany may be ready to concede some elements
of profiling, reports Dominique...
The European Commission is set to fine chemicals firms Akzo Nobel,
BASF and Belgium's UCB for their role in fixing prices on choline
chloride, according to a report.
Canadian group Forbes Medi-Tech today announced that a Finnnish
healthcare company will be the next firm to benefit from its
cholesterol-lowering plant sterols.
UK dairy foods company Fayrefield Foods is to launch the first
foods containing Forbes Medi-Tech's cholesterol-lowering plant
sterols in the UK and Ireland next year, using the GM-free claim to
competitive advantage.
The Canadian sterol maker Forbes Medi-Tech said last week's
authorisation to sell its Reducol ingredients in the EU underlined
the continued growth of its nutraceutical business.
The European Commission will this week host a major conference on
the challenges for diabetes research, in a bid to raise political,
academic and industrial awareness of the disease.
Danone is entering the UK market this month with its first product
containing plant sterols. Joining another industry heavyweight
Unilever, the move underlines the potential of the
cholesterol-lowering category and also signals increasing...
Chinese producers of glucosamine predict that prices, which have
almost tripled this year, will peak early next year, before
falling, as a knock-on benefit from recent changes to the
shrimp-meat market, writes Dominique Patton.
Coca-Cola Services S.A. has applied to the UK's novel foods
committee seeking approval to market fruit juices, fruit nectars
and tomato juice with added plant sterols.
United International Enterprises Limited (UIE), the majority
stakeholder in vegetable oil firm Aarhus United, confirms it will
sell its considerable stake in the Danish firm, due to be divested
by January 2005.
Finland has introduced the EU's new labelling requirements for food
containing plant sterols and stanols this week, which could produce
innovative products.
Selenium-enriched yeast is a safe dietary supplement and there is
no reason for the EU to ban it, according to a report by researcher
Dr Margaret Rayman from the University of Surrey in Guildford.
The European Commission is funding a project to find out how food
labelling and advertising policies could be used to stem the rapid
rise of obesity in many member states.
Canadian company Forbes Medi-Tech said yesterday that it had
secured a sterols sales agreement for US$24.4 million (€20.01
million) over a three-year period beginning in January 2005.
Canadian company Forbes Medi-Tech said yesterday that it had
secured a sterols sales agreement for $24.4 million over a
three-year period beginning in January 2005.
Norwegian CLA company Natural has seen profits fall considerably in
this year's second quarter after a major boost to revenue from new
licensing agreements last year.
A new policy on fortified foods in Denmark, which has blocked a
number of new launches from leading cereals brand Kellogg's, has in
fact 'liberalised' the market, despite recent negative press,
suggests one of the decision...