New leadership at NSF's AuthenTechnologies unit will 'more closely align' it with the organization's 'core scientific testing and research services', and will help to better define where DNA testing is best used, the division's...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has made all its models from the last 15 years available on an open source platform called the Knowledge Junction, which also encourages external submissions of data, images and videos that could go on to be used...
A recent review that did not find a statistically significant link between industry sponsorship of studies and positive outcomes points to the conundrum faced by the developers of dietary ingredients, said one expert. Companies are supposed to research...
Epidemics of seasonal viral infections, such as the flu, or seasonal fluctuations in mothers’ vitamin D levels, could explain why celiac disease is strongly associated with children’s season of birth and shed light on what triggers the autoimmune disorder,...
Is food marketing awash with bad science? If so, who is to blame?
There was plenty of handwringing at the IFT show this year about the lack of scientific literacy characterizing the debate around food and farming, backed up by scores of press clippings about ‘franken-foods.’ But is the media solely to blame, and what’s...
The European Food Safety Authority is calling for public comments on its draft guidance for the allergenicity assessment of genetically modified (GM) plants.
As 2015 draws to an end, NutraIngredients takes the time to look back at the most read scientific research carried out throughout the 12 months. Did any of them have significance for you? The number 1 story is surprising...
The European food industry has published voluntary research principles to ensure robust and transparent science – but questions remain over how they will be put in place and enforced.
Like many areas of nutrition research, probiotic and prebiotic science relies on strong collaboration between academic experts and businesses. But there are some who say such links create biased science.
Norwegian firm Olympic Seafood AS has entered in to a research collaboration with two universities to use novel ‘omics’ technologies to investigate the potential health benefits of krill oil supplements.
Randomized, placebo-controlled trials are a straitjacket for nutritional science, making FTC’s hardening stance an increasing burden on industry, experts said at the recent CRN conference. The approach poses ethical quandaries and may even have statistical...
A new meta-analysis has found that current evidence does not support the notion that calcium supplements increase the risk of heart disease in elderly women. The study reaffirms the safety and importance of the nutrient, says the Council for Responsible...
A new study comparing the bioavailability of several curcumin formulations is generating debate among suppliers, with questions raised about active and non-active metabolites.
Roquette will showcase chlorella at Vitafoods in Geneva this month with the French supplier pointing to an unpublished in vivo study demonstrating gut health benefits for the micro-algae.
A new European Union backed project will to optimise research into diet and health by pulling together scientists and research tools in order to make realistic recommendations in the area.
Seven webinars. Brand and supplier insights. Regulatory analysis. Market analysis. Marketing analysis. Science. You had better put this in your diary...
Leatherhead Food Research nutrition research manager Roberta Re calls for more rigorous science after pouring over the latest serving of article 13.5 opinions from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in this guest article. All were ultimately refused,...
From the scientific controversy around DMAA to a major resveratrol research fraud scandal, plus all the latest developments in gut health, omega-3 and vitamin science; 2012 has been an eventful year for research in the health and nutrition arena.
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) tenth anniversary scientific conference on risk assessment concluded yesterday with a call for better communication and more ‘fit-for-purpose’ risk assessment tools.
Food giant PepsiCo has joined a private-public research project in the Netherlands that is investigating how nutrition affects muscle function in athletes and the elderly.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) health claims panel has given short shrift to an appeal by a Malta-based start-up urging it to revise a 2009 rejection of the prebiotic potential of the company’s proprietary Bimuno formulation.
The 15th instalment of Vitafoods Europe kicks off in Geneva on May 22 with portfolio director Chris Lee excited about a peer-review education programme featuring the father of nutraceuticals and an expo that will outsize all previous editions.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has refuted allegations some of its health claim opinions are biased due to panel member conflicts of interest (COI), including a role with Kraft Foods held by the panel chair, professor Albert Flynn.
Finnish dairy group and ingredients supplier Valio has challenged the European Food Safety Authority’s rejection of its probiotic-gut health claim submission earlier this year, and called on the agency to better define its “methodological and statistical...
The Board of Directors of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) has published an open letter in the British Journal of Nutrition demanding pre-submission meetings with EFSA and a complete claims assessment rethink.
Article 13.1 health claims are being rejigged and resubmitted under the proprietary and emerging science, article 13.5, after EFSA rejected all but a few submissions in its second batch of 416 claim opinions yesterday.
New opportunities for food scientists are expected to open up in 2010, according to a recruitment specialist, as the sector has weathered the recession relatively well and is taken advantage of the pool of job-seeking talent.
The Irish Health Trade Association (IHTA) claims the scientific approach taken by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in its assessment of health claims for nutrients is seriously flawed.
A UK company has been told to amend advertising for a hoodia gordonii product for which claims were being made that it could reduce calorie intake, lose weight, boost mood, act as an aphrodisiac and more.
Three European cranberry extract suppliers have formed a new association with the explicit aim of clarifying standards governing the manner in which proanthocyanidins (PACs) content is communicated to consumers.
The European risk assessment body may apply "too strict
criteria" for the substantiation of article 13 health claims,
jeopardising small businesses, said the European Botanical Forum
(EBF).
The herbal supplements industry must build the science behind more
of its offerings if it is to gain the credibility of some letter
vitamins and minerals and nutrients like omega-3 and plant sterols.
Bisphenol A (BPA), known as the 'gender bender' chemical, leaches
into liquid baby formula from the linings of cans at levels
dangerous to infant health, according to new research published
yesterday by a US environmental...
Here we go again. Industry-sponsored studies into the nutritional
benefits of food and drink products are biased. Don't believe
anything that has an industry sponsor.
Nutrition studies of beverages funded solely by industry are four
to eight times more likely to report favourable conclusions for the
sponsors than studies with no industry funding, say researchers
from the US.
In the food and nutrition world, science is king. So when journals
do not force scientists to fully disclose financial support and
potential conflicts of interest, they are not helping anyone.
The words clinical trial or scientifically proven on a label carry huge cachet. But behind the claims of scientific evidence, consumers expect a base level of rigour in ensuring thatfood or personal care products actually deliver the benefits they claim.
One cannot envy the chief executive faced with a scientific study
that casts doubt over the efficacy or safety of his core product.
But avoiding a sales slump, media vilification and even charges of
fraud means squaring up to such...
Australian research company Prana Biotechnology has revealed
successful interim results of its Alzheimer's drug PBT-1,
Iodochlorhydroxyquin at the 7th International Geneva/Springfield
Symposium on Advances in Alzheimer Therapy...
The high profile recall of ephedra products in both Canada and
France in recent days has been backed up by new research from the
New England Medical Center published in the January issue of the
Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
