A 21-tonne container of Chinese shellfish-sourced raw glucosamine powder has passed border inspection at a UK port, the first to do so since a January quality control crackdown on animal-sourced glucosamine, chondroitin and chitosan.
Probiotic and preboiotic industry players must do more to get consumers on their side in the fight with regulators in the US and EU, and should also be doing more to help save lives in Africa, according to Professor Gregor Reid.
The founder of the International Probiotics Association (IPA) has called on the Global Alliance for Probiotics (GAP) to work with it to develop the science and dossiers that can win health claims in Europe and elsewhere.
The market for probiotic yoghurt in 20 key European Union markets will fall 4.5% in the five years between now and 2018, but the overall sector trend remains positive, Euromonitor International analyst Ewa Hudson told a packed Probiota congress in Amsterdam...
The term ‘probiotic’ may be banned in the European Union – along with its cousin ‘prebiotic’ – but sales remain steady, and the global picture is buoyant, says leading analyst, Euromonitor International.
Two European firms have joined to take a citrus fruit extract into American markets backed by as yet unpublished science showing blood circulation benefits.
The European Food Safety Authority has approved a raft of claims for under-3s including iodine and thyroid and cognitive function; vitamin C and iron absorption; and iron and haemoglobin formation.
“The impact of this longer-term erosion of the relationship with consumers will be profound.”
Widely despised and foreseen as an innovation crusher and healthy foods/supplements market wet blanket, we asked how life under the controversial EU nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) is panning out.
Centralising novel food regulation at EU level should allow safe and innovative food to reach the European market faster, the European Commission (EC) has said.
The Spanish advertising authority, Autocontrol, has accused Unilever of misleading advertisement of its Flora pro-activ spread by failing to include a statement stipulating target audience and conditions of consumption of the cholesterol-lowering product...
The divisive and long-unresolved battle over maximum permitted levels (MPL) of vitamins and minerals in foods and food supplements in the EU intensified today with a UK based group leaking documents detailing lobbying intentions of a newly formed pan-European...
The European Commission has defended its decision to nominate four food industry experts to EFSA’s managing board, saying that EFSA’s founding regulation states four out of the 14 board members should represent “consumers and other interests in the food...
We gave the European food industry a check-up at this year’s Food Ingredients Europe (FiE), talking with some of the industry's top ingredients players about EU health claims, economic recovery and how to remain competitive on a global stage.
Last week the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) joined many other global regulators in concluding the controversial herb ephedra and its extracts are unsafe in food supplements, an assessment welcomed by groups like Food Supplements Europe, which...
The EU herbal products sector has come in with a mixed reaction to the UK MHRA announcement last week that the sell-through period for unregistered herbal medicines would finish on April 30 next year – some welcome the market clarity and clean-up it promises....
Increasing intakes of soy and other plant-based foods and supplements can reduce environmental burdens – but does the political will exist to do it? Not really, says the chair of the 10-year-old European Natural Soyfood Manufacturers Association (ENSA).
One year on from its acquisition of Swedish beta-glucan brand OatWell, DSM talks about entering into new markets and capitalizing on European health claims.
By Shane Starling at #FIE2013 in Frankfurt, Germany
Botanical food supplements deemed medicinal have less than six months to achieve herbal medicines status or be removed from shelves in the UK – but the sector says the law remains unclear.
Just commissioned research aims to to help resolve the stalemate that exists in the EU over maximum permitted levels (MPLs) for vitamins and minerals with a novel approach.
The botanicals industry was pleasantly surprised recently when the EU’s central science agency backed an isolated health claim for a bowel-benefitting herbal blend – but is EFSA really changing its botanicals approach before the EC has told it to?
The European Union botanicals sector has been in limbo since 2010 when 2078 botanical health claim applications were placed on hold as the European Commission bowed to pressure to reconsider the scientific criteria for their validation. With no end to...
Hangover supplement start-up Alcotox, known in the UK as Vital X, exemplifies holes in theoretically unified health claims regulation within the EU, legal hounds say.
After NutraIngredients attended EFSA’s one-day transparency debate recently, we sat down with panel heads, and found an agency content with its transparency progress and its broader role as protector of EU food safety.
EFSA’s approval this week of a botanical health claim for bowel health represents a significant shift in its assessment methodologies, according to an EU food law expert.
The chances of the European Commission (EC) approving the latest bid to use the term ‘probiotic’ as a ‘generic descriptor’ are slim, according to law firm Eversheds.
British, Danish and Spanish authorities have warned people not to consume OxyElite Pro, following a similar US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning issued to manufacturer USPLabs after a Hawaiian outbreak of hepatitis linked to the pre-workout supplement.
The stop-and-go, uncoordinated approach of EU-level and national regulators to bans on nutritional supplements including DMAA, dexaprine and synephrine, should be a cause for concern among policy makers and industry alike, warns Luca Bucchini, PhD.
The European Commission has passed a law meaning generic descriptors for food and beverage products which could be construed as health claims will only be allowed if they have been in use for more than 20 years.
As the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) welcomed a broad range of stakeholders to its Italian HQ today to debate data and process transparency, the food industry asked at what point openness brakes innovation and competitive advantage?
European dietary strategy should be adapted to its ageing population, the EU-backed NU-AGE project told the International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) in Granada, Spain, this week.
Nutraceutix, based in Redmond, WA, has added to the list of patents for its probiotic delivery system with patents in the 24 countries in the European Patent Convention. This means the technology, called “Delivery System for a Biological Component” in...
The European sports nutrition sector is stringently regulated and not awash with contaminated products, the industry has confirmed in a new booklet aimed at public and politicians alike.
On a day when its headquarters in Copenhagen announced a significant overhaul of a number of its core businesses, Chr Hansen’s vice-president of health and nutrition sales highlighted the regulatory difficulties companies face when doing business in Asia.
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.
The European sports nutrition sector has backed Dutch and UK bans of a fat burning product called Dexaprine, and welcomed actions against “cowboy operators”.
The UK medicines regulator has reinstated fat burning supplement, Dexaprine, after learning the Californian manufacturer had developed a special formulation for the UK market with medicinal ingredients removed.
HFMA: “The report ignores the significant efforts by UK manufacturers’ to comply with the regulation...”
The UK food supplements industry has hit back at the consumer watchdog there that today slammed some of Europe’s biggest manufacturers like Seven Seas, Vitabiotics and Boots for deceiving consumers with unsubstantiated health claims.
Cholesterol-busting plant sterol and stanol products – worth about €2.5bn globally – will have to carry warning labels in the European Union from next February.
A polymer used in as pill coating and approved in pharma applications has been found to be safe in food supplements by the EU’s central science agency after a request from the European Commission.
The EU’s newest and 28th member state – Croatia – will see few immediate changes in its food supplements sector as its laws already mimicked those of the bloc but an analyst says consolidation of the market is likely – especially eastwards.
Glanbia Performance Nutrition has joined the ever-growing membership of the 10-year-old European Specialist Sports Nutrition Association (ESSNA), joining supplement maker PhD Nutrition, and retailers NBTY Europe Bodybuilding.com as new members.
Last week the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said a lack of data meant it could not decide upon the safety of aphrodisiac herbal, yohimbe. But are its methodologies up to scratch for this kind of assessment? asks Italy-based botanicals expert,...
€13bn Belgian supplier Solvay has sold its Solactis nutrition division that includes galactofructose (lactulose) to its former nutrition programme manager.
EU nations could better regulate botanical products and maximum permitted levels (MPLs) for nutrients in food supplements and functional foods than the European Union, a UK government report has suggested.
