Nutraceuticals International articles from June 2003

Nutraceuticals International archives from June 2003

Irish food authority acts on irradiated suppmts.
June 1, 2003... The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has advised the dietary supplement industry to remove 10 herbal formulations from the market after they were found to be irradiated or to contain irradiated components. The action followed a survey...

European Commission softens on health claims exclusivity.
June 1, 2003... The second draft was now being actively discussed with other Directorates General, such as those for enterprise and agriculture, in an effort to iron out any remaining problems. The aim was to publish the proposal before the summer...

Multivitamin prices rise in Russia.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Russia's State Statistics Committee reports that the consumer price of domestically-produced multivitamins in April was around 2.0% higher than in March, according to the Interfax news agency. In comparison, it notes, the monthly increase in...

European Commission softens on health claims exclusivity.
June 1, 2003... The European Commission has confirmed its intention to incorporate some form of data exclusivity for innovative health claims into its proposed regulation on nutrition and health claims for foods. The indications are that applicants for...

UK govt call to ban chromium picolinate "completely unjustified," says industry.
June 1, 2003... The UK Food Standards Agency has advised consumers that, while current levels of intake of most vitamins and minerals are not thought to be harmful, there are varying levels of concern about nine substances. In the case of another, chromium...

European news in brief.(Russian vitamin production)
June 1, 2003... - Russia's Ministry of Industry reports that production of vitamins in the country increased by a substantial 120% in the first quarter of 2003 compared with the same period of 2002, according to the Interfax news agency. The local vitamins...

Tough choices for herbal supplements.
June 1, 2003... The accumulation of new European regulations on herbal products that fall below the watermark of conventional medicinal status could mean some tough choices for manufacturers of herbal supplements. One of these will be whether to face up to...

EU Food Supps legislation - no significant progress in past year.
June 1, 2003... The European Food Supplements Directive 2002/46/EC was adopted a year ago on June 10, 2002. The Directive requires that by July 31 each of the 15 member states of the European Union must bring into force in their respective territories the...

US regulators warn distributors and makers on bogus SARS supplements.
June 1, 2003... The US Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have fired a warning shot to manufacturers, distributors and web site operators making claims that dietary supplements and other unlicensed products can protect against, treat...

USA's NNFA defends DSHEA in Washington.(US National Nutritional Foods Association)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The US National Nutritional Foods Association has recently opened a new office in Washington DC. The association will maintain its current base in Newport Beach, California, while the Washington office will deal primarily with government...

CRN gets new members.(US Council for Responsible Nutrition)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The US Council for Responsible Nutrition has four new member companies. Joining as voting members are Coppell, Texas-based Mannatech, which specialises in dietary supplements based on naturally occurring, plant- derived carbohydrates; and...

US class-action law suit over ephedra; Illinois becomes the first state to ban it.
June 1, 2003... The first US nationwide class-action complaint has been filed against manufacturers of the herbal dietary supplement ephedra. The main goal of the lawsuit, which was brought in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on...

Metabolife 356 causal role "not established.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The US General Accounting Office has published its review of health- related call records for users of the ephedra diet product Metabolife 356, which has drawn lawsuits against its maker, Metabolife International (NIs passim). The study,...

CRN urges action on coral calcium claims.(Council for Responsible Nutrition)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The US Council for Responsible Nutrition has urged the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to take firm action against "outrageous" claims for dietary supplements containing coral calcium. In a letter to the...

US comment period on GMP extended.(Good Manufacturing Practices)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The US Food and Drug Administration has extended by 60 days the comment period for its proposed regulation on current Good Manufacturing Practices for dietary supplements (NI vol 8, no 4). The long-awaited proposed rule was published in the...

Vits C, E's role against oxidative stress.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Many US citizens may have increased oxidative stress due to conditions such as obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, Balz Frei, director of the Linus Pauling Institute, told a recent meeting on the role of vitamins C and E. Optimal intakes...

Public "deceived" over ephedrine, court rules.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Virtually all advertising run by Cytodyne Technologies in the state of California for Xenadrine RFA-1, a dietary supplement containing ma huang (ephedra), has been false or misleading, said a judgement handed down in the San Diego Superior...

NZ plans alternative medicines web site.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... New Zealand's Health Ministry plans to launch a web site, including an on-line searchable database, to provide information on complementary and alternative medicines. The initiative will cost NZ$250,000- NZ$300,000 ($143,975-$172,770). The...

Pan Pharma faces claims avalanche, calls in administrator; Australia tightens regs.
June 1, 2003... Just 14 days after the largest recall of medicines in Australian history (NI Vol 8 No 5), the country's parliament swiftly passed a raft of amendments to the Therapeutic Goods Act, giving the national medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods...

Codex health claims guidelines now on the home stretch.
June 1, 2003... After years of negotiation, the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Labeling has finalized its proposed guidelines on health claims for foods. The guidelines have been advanced to Step 8 of the Codex approval process, for adoption at the 26th...

Genosa expands into bio-foods.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Malaga, Spain-headquartered biotechnology start-up Genosa is muscling into the domestic bio-foods market with the launch of a vegetable oil- based product which it claims helps to reduce cardiovascular disease and cholesterol levels. The...

drugstore.com buys Custom Nutrition.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Washington, USA-based drugstore.com, an online retailer of health, beauty, pharmaceutical and wellness products, says it has agreed to acquire privately-held Custom Nutrition Services. CNS provides personalized nutrition services to...

Sales and earnings up at Sentex in 2002.
June 1, 2003... Canada's Sentex Systems has reported a 14.9% increase in revenues to $5.1 million for 2002. Net income was $485,843, or $0.04 per share, compared with $359,318, or $0.03 per share, in 2001. The company achieved the improvements despite...

Forbes divests unit, streamlines focus.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Canadian biopharmaceutical concern Forbes Medi-Tech has divested its pharmaceutical fine chemicals business in a $1.9 million deal, as the company continues its strategy of focusing on cardiovascular drug development and its revenue-generating...

Nigerian crackdown on bogus herbalists.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Practitioners of herbal medicine operating in Nigeria's Lagos state have been given two weeks' notice of a crackdown by the local board of traditional medicine. The board has also asked patients to demand that herbal medicine practitioners...

SARS prompts calls for China TCM program.(traditional Chinese medicine)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The current epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome across China and other Asian countries has prompted calls for a national program using traditional Chinese medicine to treat the disease. Huang Mingda of the Chinese Academy of...

Healthy revenue rise posted at SCOLR.(first quarter earnings)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... SCOLR, formerly known as Nutraceutix (NI vol 7, no 8), has announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2003. They show that revenues reached $1.7 million, an increase of 19%. Net losses were just over $367,000, or $0.02 per share,...

Quorn sold to MPE in L70M deal.(Montagu Private Equity )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The top-selling vegetarian meat substitute Quorn has been sold, along with its manufacturer and distributor, the UK's Marlow Foods, to Montagu Private Equity in a deal worth L70 million ($114.2 million). The transaction follows a decision...

Revenues down at Imperial Ginseng.( for the three- and nine-month periods ended March 31, 2003)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Canada's Imperial Ginseng Products has reported revenues of C$1.3 million ($871,000) and C$5.7 million for the three- and nine-month periods ended March 31, 2003, compared with C$2.7 million and C$5.2 million, respectively, during the...

Cognis' earnings down on falling US sales.(firest quarter earnings)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Specialty chemical and nutritional supplements supplier Cognis has reported a 15% decrease in pretax profits for the first quarter of 2003, as the Germany-based company suffered from the negative impact of foreign currency and dwindling sales...

Probi signs bacteria deal with Danone.(licensing deal)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Swedish biotechnology concern Probi has signed a licensing deal with beverages giant Danone, giving the latter worldwide rights, excluding the UK and Norway, to market products containing one of Probi's patented bacteria. Financial terms of the...

Concerns over DSM/ Roche vitamins deal.(European Commission investigation into the planned acquisition )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The European Commission says it has launched an investigation into the planned acquisition of the vitamins and fine chemicals division of Swiss drugs and diagnostic maker Roche by Netherlands-based DSM. The EC has also raised doubts over...

AOBO posts strong 1st-quarter growth.(American Oriental Bioengineering )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Hong Kong, China-based American Oriental Bioengineering has reported a strong set of results for the first quarter of 2003, on the back of improved operating efficiencies and a stellar sales performance from its core products. Revenues for...

Pharma Formulations completes acquisition.(of Konsyl Pharmaceuticals )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... New Jersey, USA-headquartered Pharmaceutical Formulations (PFI) says it has completed the acquisition of Texas-based Konsyl Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed consideration. The transaction, noted PFI in a prepared statement, was financed...

NBTY snaps up Rexall Sundown.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... As NI went to press, a buyer had emerged for Rexall Sundown, the ailing vitamins and supplements unit recently put up for sale by Royal Numico of the Netherlands. The deal is with NBTY, the US manufacturer and distributor of nutritional...

Sales and earnings slide at Twinlab Corp.(first quarter earnings report)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Twinlab Corp has announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2003. They show a net loss of $3.7 million or $0.13 per share - basically an exact reversal of the first quarter of 2002, when the company posted net income of $3.7...

Good fiscal 2003 for Hawaii's Cyanotech.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Hawaii-based Cyanotech Corp, which specializes in the production of natural products from microalgae, has posted its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31. For the quarter, net sales increased 18% to just...

Major loss reduction at Naturade.(1st-quarter earnings, working toward profitability)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Naturade, a US marketer of soy protein products, said its net sales increased by 14.6% in the first quarter of 2003 ended March 31, to almost $3.9 million. The company's net loss fell to $193,000 from $473,000 in the same period of 2002. ...

A record month for ZonePerfect Nutrition.(April 2003)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The USA's ZonePerfect Nutrition Co, which manufactures "healthy and nutritious products to help time-starved people," says it posted its highest ever one-month revenues in April 2003. Turnover was $10.5 million, a 223% increase on the...

Nutraceutical Int to acquire Nature's Life.(Nutraceutical International Corp. to acquire the entire stock of fellow US company MK Health Food Distributors)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Nutraceutical International Corp, the US manufacturer and marketer of nutritional supplements under brand names such as Solaray, NaturalMax, VegLife and Premier One, has signed an agreement to acquire the entire stock of fellow US company MK...

BioGaia extends its reach to Australia, New Zealand and China.
June 1, 2003... Swedish probiotic specialist BioGaia AB, which is increasingly focusing on its health and nutrition interests (NI vol 8, no 3), is extending its international reach in these segments through new agreements signed in Australia and China. A...

Folligro tackles hair loss with fenugreek.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Folligro, a new contender on the US market, is offering fenugreek as a non-pharmaceutical option for arresting and reversing hair loss. According to its manufacturer, Folligro America, the product - a combination of fenugreek pea plant extract...

Beta-carotene: cancer risk in smokers.
June 1, 2003... A US study has provided further evidence that smokers taking beta- carotene supplements may be at increased risk of cancer. The results of the trial, published in the May 21 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that...

Baywood allergy drug goes ephedra free.(Baywood International's Dr Harris' Original Allergy Formula )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Baywood International has followed the trend towards reformulation of ephedra products in the US market, as negative publicity, regulatory constraints and the threat of legal action continue to build against the much-criticized ingredient (NIs...

Cadila launches ayurvedic range.( Cadila Pharmaceuticals herbal medicines)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... - India's Cadila Pharmaceuticals has entered the country's ayurvedic sector with the launch of five herbal medicines: Tummyease soft-gel capsules; Fleximuv ointment and oil for pain relief; Antisept Cream and the cough remedy NT Tus. These...

Antioxidant-boosted red wine developed.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Greg Jardine, an organic chemist who runs Brisbane's Vineyard in Australia, has developed a new red wine liqueur, Doctor Red, which he claims is the first antioxidant-enriched red wine to reach the market. The product is based on a little-used...

ICN Pharma extends Nyal range with herbs.(ICN Pharmaceuticals )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... ICN Pharmaceuticals has launched a new range of natural remedies in Australia under its Nyal brand. The products are intended "to accommodate the fast-growing complementary medicine market," according to the firm. Existing Nyal products sold in...

Red Bull Sugarfree roll-out continues in Oz.(Australia)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Red Bull has continued the introduction of its 250ml Red Bull Sugarfree product in world markets, kicked off by launches in the USA and UK (NI vol 8, no 2), The latest roll-out is in Australia. Red Bull Australia sales director Mike Stacy said...

Kemin introduces satiety supplement.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Kemin Consumer Care, a subsidiary of US company Kemin Foods, has introduced a new weight-management product, Satise Satiety Aid, as a dietary supplement through Hi-Health stories in the Phoenix, Arizona area. The company claims the product has...

Puleva compound to curb cardio disease.
June 1, 2003... Spanish biotech start-up Puleva Biotech, part of food giant Ebro Puleva, will launch its debut compound - a fat aimed at curbing cardiovascular disease - in June. A Puleva Biotech spokesman told NI that the fatty compound, dubbed CV-17, helps...

Nutraceutical product news in brief.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Denmark's Aarhus Oliefabrik, best-known in nutraceuticals circles for its shea nut-derived cholesterol-lowering ingredient SheaNature, is preparing to launch two new functional ingredients based on the unsaponifiable fraction of shea oil - BSP...

Croda debuts new lipid ingredients.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... In the wake of Croda's announcement earlier this year that it would significantly expand its lipid production facilities in the UK (NI vol 8, no 2), the company has launched Incromega DHA700E SR, a new lipid concentrate. This latest addition to...

Vanson to trial weight-loss supplement.(Vanson HaloSource)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Vanson HaloSource of the USA has started a clinical trial to validate the efficacy of LipoSan Ultra, its chitosan-based weight management product. The study is designed to expand on prior research, conducted in 2001 and published in the Journal...

Acatris rolls out lignan product.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Acatris of the Netherlands has launched a new flax-derived ingredient, LinumLife, that contains a naturally high level of lignans - about 10- 30 times more than traditional flax ingredients, says the firm. Lignans have received attention for...

Probiotic formulation benefits IBD suffers.(inflammatory bowel disease)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... A non-pathogenic strain of Escherichia coli probiotic oral suspension appeared to relieve patients of the major clinical symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease in a pilot trial, the BioBalance Corp has reported. The study, by Israeli...

LP299v probiotic in gut colonization.
June 1, 2003... The effectiveness of the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum 299v in colonizing the human gut and improving the quality of bacterial flora in healthy volunteers has been demonstrated by researchers from the Department of Gastroenterology and the...

ADHD and herbal medicines study due.(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... A study is underway at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia to ascertain whether herbal medicines can assist in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Researcher Fiona Dey is seeking children in metropolitan Melbourne,...

Forthcoming meetings/events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... Maximizing Growth Opportunities through Cost-Effective Marketing & Advertising of Herbal Products, is a one-day meeting organized by Centaur Publishing, taking place July 10, at the Kensington Close Hotel, London, UK. For further details,...

People on the move.(several industry appointment news briefs)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... - Jon Bell is the new chief executive of the UK's Food Standards Agency. Dr Bell worked in the private sector after completing his post- doctoral studies, joined the civil srvice in 1975 and has been acting chief executive of the agency since...

Australian alternative medicines industry grew 2.5-fold in 2002, to $1.49B.(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... The Australian alternative medicine industry has boomed over the past decade, with turnover expanding nearly two and a half times to A$2.3 billion ($1.49 billion) in 2002 and, until the Pan Pharmaceuticals furore (NI vol 8, no 5 and page xx...

Japan health food study group meets.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's study group on systems related to health foods has held its first meeting at which Heizo Tanaka, director general of the National Institute of Health and Nutrition, was appointed chairman and...