Nutraceuticals International articles from April 2005

Nutraceuticals International archives from April 2005

EU AG decision a disaster for supp makers, despite calling Directive "invalid".(European Union )(sales regulations of vitamins and minerals)
April 1, 2005... Some sectors of the European Union's health food products industry, notably the Alliance for Natural Health, thought they had won a significant victory at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg this month, after Advocate General Leendert...

Ireland commences public consultation on folic acid food fortification.
April 1, 2005... A public consultation process was announced March 21 to seek the views of the general public and interested parties on the possible fortification of food with folic acid to reduce the prevalence of neural tube defects such as spina bifida in...

Omega-3 heart health claims given go-ahead by UK's JHCI.(Joint Health Claim Initiative)(www.jhci.org.uk)
April 1, 2005... The UK food industry has been given the go-ahead to promote omega-3 polyunsaturates in the battle to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. These special fatty acids, found in oily fish, fish oil supplements and in oils derived from algae,...

Food taking over from medicine? Royal Society of Medicine meeting.
April 1, 2005... The allopathic model of medicine has reached diminished returns and, as it falters, there is a move to a pharmaconutritional model, according to some experts, a recent meeting of the Royal Society of Medicine in London, UK, has heard. ...

Health experts give their support for low-carb diet as Atkins departs from UK.
April 1, 2005... Leading dieticians, general practitioners and nutritionists in the UK have confirmed their support for, and belief in, a low-carbohydrate lifestyle, in light of the recent announcement by Atkins Nutritionals - which advocated an almost complete...

More on EU fortified foods debate.(European Union)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The European Commission's Proposal on a Regulation for the addition of vitamin and minerals and of certain other substances to foods (NIs passim) was the subject of an internal parliamentary committee debate last month. At this, rapporteur...

Russia bans Pinelli.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Unconfirmed press reports say that the Russian authorities have banned the sale of one or more of the energy drinks produced by the Czech company Pinelli, according to the CTK news agency's Business News. The ban has reportedly been introduced...

FDLI meeting reviews DSHEA and and what is an old or new ingredient.(Food and Drug Law Institute)(Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act)
April 1, 2005... The USA's Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act of 1994 provided many rules to ensure the safety of supplements, according to Susan Walker, director of the Division for Dietary Supplement Safety in the Food and Drug Administration's...

UK medicines agency publishes a classification of what is a herbal medicine.(www.mhra.gov.uk)(medicine and medicinal products guidance notes)
April 1, 2005... The UK's Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (formerly the Medicines Control Agency) has, for many years, published guidance notes on the definition of a medicine and what constitutes a medicinal product. These guidance notes,...

US firms meeting strictest US standards for contaminants in fish oils, says CRN.
April 1, 2005... A new report on the purity of fish oil supplements issued by Environmental Defense, a USA-based not-for-profit organization set up in 1967, showed that more than two-thirds (37) of the 54 companies contacted verified that they met the strictest...

US ConsumerLab.Com tests B vitamins.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... US watchdog group ConsumerLab.com has reported test results for B vitamin supplements that it recently purchased in the USA and Canada. Most of the products were found to contain their claimed amounts of vitamins and all tablets and caplets...

Michigan Univ "healing foods pyramid".
April 1, 2005... The University of Michigan's Integrative Medicine Clinical Services has unveiled its Healing Foods Pyramid which, it says, emphasizes foods known to have healing benefits, plant-based choices, variety and balance, support of a healthful...

US FDA seeks comment on food label changes.
April 1, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has asked for public comment on two proposals which aim to improve the appearance and content of the nutrition label on food products, in order to help consumers make better-informed weight-management...

GNC unveils the USA's most and least "fortified" cities using multivitamins.(General Nutrition Centers)
April 1, 2005... US nutritional supplements distributor General Nutrition Centers has unveiled a ranking of the country's most and least "fortified" cities to highlight the importance of taking a daily multivitamin. GNC determined the fortification rankings by...

Five new members join CRN.(Council for Responsible Nutrition)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The US Council for Responsible Nutrition says that five new member companies have joined the organization so far this year. These are: - Eastman Chemical Co, which is a producer of the NuTriene brand of tocotrienols; - Gumlink A/S, a...

Poor nutrition blamed for insomnia among millions of American people.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... According to the USA's National Sleep Foundation, approximately 70 million people in the country are affected by a sleep problem. Around 12 million Americans have restless legs syndrome, a sleep and movement disorder characterized by unpleasant...

Functional foods: opportunities and challenges, new report from IFT.(Institute of Food Technologists )(functional foods labelling)
April 1, 2005... Recognizing an unprecedented opportunity to improve public health through diet and lifestyle, a new scientific report urges the US government to expand its food labeling regulations to accurately reflect food's effect on the body. The report,...

Malaysia's medicinal plants under threat.
April 1, 2005... The current consumer interest in Malaysian traditional herbal medicine has created such a demand for indigenous plants that several protected species, including the world's biggest flower, the Rafflesia, are under threat. A Rafflesia flower can...

Adulterated CoQ10 found in Japan.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has, after recently inspecting the factories of some manufactuers of Coenzyme Q10 dietary supplements, ordered the withdrawal of their products. The move follows an analysis of several...

Codex reviews structure/mandates.(Codex Alimentarius Commission agenda)
April 1, 2005... After the joint evaluation in 2002 by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization of Codex Alimentarius, a review of the Codex Committee structures and the mandates of the committees and task forces has been carried...

Infant milk formula scare shakes up Chinese market, says Euromonitor report.
April 1, 2005... The future of the infant milk formula market in China lies with better product quality and greater brand loyalty, according to a new report from Euromonitor International, entitled Packaged Food in China. In 2004, some of China's...

Japan: functional food consultants org set up.(Japan's Functional Food Consultant Certification Institute)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Japan's Functional Food Consultant Certification Institute, under the director generalship of Yoichi Nagamura, a professor at the Fujita Health University, has inaugurated a society for functional food consultants, to be based in the city of...

Avocado oil health benefits explored.(cold pressed avocado oil)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A team of scientists at HortResearch in New Zealand, headed by Allan Woolf, are working to identify preharvest factors that influence the quantity and quality of the health components of cold-pressed avocado oil (CPAO). Research on this new oil...

New study shows fish oils hold promise in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.
April 1, 2005... The benefits of consuming fish oils have long been known and even our grandmothers told us fish was "brain food," but now scientists in the USA have produced evidence to back the claim. Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs...

"All you need know about kids nutrition".
April 1, 2005... Ireland-based Research and Markets has announced the addition of a Kids Nutrition Report to its offering, noting that this is "the first and most authoritative publication worldwide to focus specifically on the highly-active arena of...

Australia: more scrutiny for functional foods.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Functional foods, including fortified dairy products, will face increasing scrutiny, according to Food Standards Australia New Zealand chief executive Graham Peachey, who added that the regulatory process is likely to focus on the safety of...

More rigorous herbal assessment: Australia.(complementary medicines guidelines)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Australian government, as part of its response to the recent recommendations from the Australian Expert Committee on Complementary Medicines in the Health System (NI vol 10, no 3), has said that the Therapeutic Goods Administration is to...

Australian edible oils' benefits touted.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Australian Oilseeds Federation, in collaboration with the Australian Heart Foundation, has launched a new marketing campaing, Nature's Finest, to promote the health benefits of edible oils. This explains the merits of various home-grown...

ChromeMate gets green light from UK's Food Standards Agency.
April 1, 2005... InterHealth Nutraceuticals ChromeMate has been granted approval by UK Food Standards Agency. This certification allows the product to be used in food supplements sold in the country through December 31, 2009. ChromeMate is a unique,...

Pharmanex to debut G3 nutrition drink.
April 1, 2005... Pharmanex, a division of Nu Skin Enterprises, is introducing G3, a nutrient-dense fruit juice which, the firm says, contains an exceptionally high amount of antioxidants. Importantly, it points out, the carotenoid antioxidants contained in G3...

Chromax chromium better absorbed than other nutritional chromium supps.
April 1, 2005... A new study shows that Chromax, the brand of chromium picolinate marketed by US firm Nutrition 21, is better absorbed by the body than other forms of this compound used as nutritional supplements and in foods. The results of the study,...

Australian team develops celiac drug.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... An orally-administered drug that could help sufferers of celiac disease has been developed by Hugh Cornell, a professor of biological chemistry at the RMIT University of Melbourne, Australia, according to local reports. Celiac disease...

Seven Seas wins Top Sante award.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Seven Seas range of nutritional supplements has been voted number one in UK health and beauty magazine, Top Sante's, annual consumer awards. A panel of judges voted the brand the winner due to its popularity with readers of the...

Hpylori treatment extracted from hops.(Helicobacter pylori)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A research partnership between Japan's Chiba University Medical School and Asahi Breweries has isolated a substance from hops that neutralizes a bacterial toxin currently thought to cause stomach cancer, reports NI's local correspondent. ...

Baking chocolate has most antioxidants.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Agricultural Research Service, the chief research unit of the US Department of Agriculture, says that the flavanol class of antioxidants is found in a range of chocolate products, but more so in those with a higher cocoa content. The...

Cerestar launches range of soy flour.(Cerestar Food and Pharma Specialties Europe)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Cerestar Food and Pharma Specialties Europe, a business unit of Cargill Inc, has launched a range of functional soy products for the bakery market, following last year's announcement that the firm had expanded its portfolio with soy products....

Calcium intake crucial to benefits of osteoporosis drugs, study shows.
April 1, 2005... Although an increasing number of people take powerful new prescription drugs to treat osteoporosis, the chances are the majority of patients are not getting the greatest effect from these medicines because they do not have an adequate calcium...

Nutballz launches celiac health bars.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Nutballz of the USA, a food company specializing in convenience products for gluten-free and sugar-sensitive diets, has launched two new brands: Sacha Active Meals, a range of gluten-free bars made with organic quinoa and organic flax; and...

Lactaid Fast Act to hit US stores this month.(supplements launch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... McNeil Nutritionals has announced that its new fast-acting Lactaid supplement will be hitting US stores in the next few weeks. Lactaid is a brand of milk and dietary supplements for lactose intolerance. "The revolutionary new Fast Act...

Gold Circle liquid eggs to use Martek DHA.(docosahexaenoic acid)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Columbia, USA-based Martek Bioscience will sell its liquid egg whites containing Martek docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid, through Gold Circle Farms, a popular brand of natural health foods. Martek develops and commercializes...

Lyflo explores health care supplement retail.(health supplements launched)(Lyflo Select)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Lyflo Select, a privately-held company based in South Dakota, USA, has launched a range of health supplements which it hopes to retail exclusively through health professionals. According to the company, its products address all the usual...

Guru Lite energy drinks launched.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Canada's GI Energy Drinks Corp has launched Guru Lite, a low-calorie version of its original energy formula, onto the domestic market. Each can of the product contains 1,629mg of an entire active botanical complex comprising standardized...

WinFuel introduces vitamin range.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... New Jersey, USA-headquartered nutritional company WinFuel, last month introduced its WinFuel range of multivitamin products. The company claims that its product is uniquely positioned to give consumers a nutritional boost above and beyond...

ONC's omega-3 added to US bread brands.(Ocean Nutrition Canada)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ocean Nutrition Canada, the supplier of the MEG-3 brand of omega-3 eicosapentanoic acid and docosahexanoic acid supplements, announced the introduction in the USA of three US breads containing its proprietary fish oil ingredient. In...

Danisco debuts deli salad antimicrobial.(NovaGard CB-1 anti-microbial system)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Danish functional foods major Danisco has announced the launch of its NovaGard CB-1 anti-microbial system, designed to reduce the risk of Listeria in ready-to-eat deli food, according to www.just-food.com. Danisco told the news provider...

Cargill and Materia expand accord.(development agreement)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... US foods and nutraceuticals company Cargill has expanded its development agreement with catalyst specialist Materia for the former's use of the latter's proprietary olefin metathesis technology converting organic oils into industrial chemicals,...

DHP buys another sports nutrition firm.(Dynamic Health Products)(Dynamic Marketing)(acquisition)
April 1, 2005... Dynamic Health Products, a Florida-based dietary supplements firm, has acquired fellow US firm Dynamic Marketing, a sports nutrition and performance drinks distributor. Under the terms of the deal, DHP will pay about $3.0 million in cash and...

PL Thomas in nutra deal with India's Laila.(Laila Impex)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... PL Thomas, a supplier of food and nutraceutical ingredients based in Morristown, New Jersey, USA has entered into a strategic alliance with Laila Impex, the largest producer of herbal extracts in India, to develop and market unique herbal...

USA's OptiPure links up with Japan's Use.(OptiPure Brand Chemco Industries)(Use Techno Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... OptiPure Brand Chemco Industries, based in Los Angeles, California, has entered into an exclusive distribution and marketing deal with Use Techno Corp of Japan for the former's GlucoTrim banaba leaf extract. At the moment, three patents...

NSF/AHP sign alliance.(NSF International)(American Herbal Pharmacopoeia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The not-for-profit firms NSF International and American Herbal Pharmacopoeia have entered into a partnership to evaluate dietary supplements that contain botanicals, such as echinacea, St John's wort and Gingko biloba to ensure that such...

Danisco's sweeteners and ingredients see 5% organic growth in 3rd qtr 2004.
April 1, 2005... Copenhagen, Denmark-headquartered Danisco, the major global food ingredients producer, has announced that sales of sweeteners and ingredients grew 5% in the third quarter of 2004 and increased 2% for the first nine months of the year. ...

National Starch raises production for Asia.(National Starch Food Innovation)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... New Jersey, USA-headquartered National Starch Food Innovation, which is National Starch's food products division, has announced plans to expand its manufacturing capabilities in order to grow in Asian markets. Following the construction of...

Beres predicts sales of $31.6 M in 2005.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Beres, a Hungarian manufacturer of drugs and dietary supplements, is forecasting net sale revenues worth 5.7 billion forint ($31.6 million) this year, versus turnover of around 4.2 billion forints in 2004, according to the Interfax News agency....

Nutrinnovator to acquire Provexis.
April 1, 2005... UK-based Nutrinnovator has confirmed that it is currently at an advanced stage of negotiations to acquire a complementary functional food company, Provexis. Nutrinnovator, which was formed in 2003 by a team of former executives at...

Dolisos continues to make losses.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The misfortunes of the world's number two homeopathic drugs company, France's Dolisos, have continued. Two months ahead of the merger with its competitor Boiron (NI vol 10, no 3), Dolisos has posted a 3% downturn in 2004 sales at 107.0 million...

Naturex sees dynamic sales growth.(company earnings)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Naturex, a French producer of natural ingredients for the nutraceuticals and food industries, has reported a rise of 23.7% in turnover for 2004 to 34.8 million euros ($44.7 million), with group net profits up more than 56% at 2.6 million euros....

Martek Bioscience Corp posts strong set of financials but fails to impress investors.
April 1, 2005... Martek Biosciences Corp of Columbia, USA, says that for its first fiscal quarter of 2005, ended January 31, revenues leapt 86.8% to $66.5 million, while net income was $7.1 million, or $0.23 per share, a jump of 108.8% compared with the like,...

Zila happy with quarter despite rising loss.(company earnings)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Zila of Phoenix, USA, has announced its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2005 ended January 31, which show that revenues declined 2% to $13.3 million, while net loss rose to $2.7 million, or $0.06 per share, compared to a loss...

Forthcoming meetings/events.
April 1, 2005... The Centre for Law, Ethics and Society at Keele University, UK, will be hosting a one-day workshop, Food Ethics and the Public Health, on June 2, at the University. This will focus on the relationship between food and health. For more...

People on the move.(appointments and promotions)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... - The US Council for Responsible Nutrition has recruited Andrew Shao as vice president, scientific and regulatory affairs. Dr Shao was most recently a senior scientist at GNC. - Ireland-based dairy and nutrition company Glanbia has...