Nutraceuticals International articles from June 2004

Nutraceuticals International archives from June 2004

Tough new EU rules on GM foods an opportunity for non-GM?
June 1, 2004... The stringent new rules governing the labeling and traceability of genetically-modified organisms and ingredients, which came into force in the European Union in April (NIs passim), have created the harshest environment in the world, but could...

New Romanian beverage legislation.
June 1, 2004... The Romanian government has announced that all beverages containing more than 150mg of caffeine per liter must, from the beginning of next year, be labeled with the words "high caffeine content," according to Bucharest Business Week. Among...

UK functional foods and drinks market booming, set to reach [pounds sterling]1.72B in 2007.
June 1, 2004... The UK functional food and drinks market (foods which are designed to provide a specific benefit beyond their nutritional value with long-term use) continues to boom as consumers increasingly recognize the importance of taking their health into...

UK Food Standards Agency calls for advisory statements on high-level supps.
June 1, 2004... In May 1997, the UK government announced a proposed change to the law to restrict the maximum amount of vitamin B6 in products to 10mg/day. This caused an enormous furore amongst both consumers and the supplement industry, with the latter...

Soy-based alternatives to meat and dairy products sought by Europeans.
June 1, 2004... People in Europe are increasingly opting for soy-based alternatives to dairy and meat products, according to new research from PROSOY. In 2002, the European market for soy-based drinks and desserts and meat-free and tofu products reached a...

Spain withdrawsillegal supplements.
June 1, 2004... Spain's Ministry of Health has recalled a dozen dietary and nutraceutical drugs, arguing that they had reached the country's retailers without obtaining clearance from drugs watchdog AGEMED. For this reason, the Ministry said the products,...

US energy supps mkt "to reach $8B by 2008".
June 1, 2004... Energy supplements, which were originally marketed in the USA to athletes and almost exclusively to young people, are now moving rapidly into the mainstream, according to consumer intelligence provider Mintel. Sales of products marketed on...

Over one-third of US adults use CAM: CDC.
June 1, 2004... A nationwide government survey has found that 36% of US adults aged 18 years and over use some form of complementary and alternative medicine. When prayer is included in the definition for health reasons, the number rises to 62%. The...

US FDA CFSAN's "ambitious, aggressive" program priorities to September 30.
June 1, 2004... The US Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has published what its director, Robert Brackett, says are "ambitious and aggressive" work program expectations through September 30, 2004. The work plan...

Rising cost of health care in India shifting patients to functional foods, supps.
June 1, 2004... In India, health problems due to changing lifestyles, urbanization and office jobs include hypertension, diabetes, heart attacks, arthritis and cancers, and these are afflicting an increasing number and at an earlier age, note NI's local...

Bid to remove politics from US diet guide.
June 1, 2004... The Healthy Lifestyles Act, introduced by US Senators Peter Fitzgerald (Republican) and Edward Kennedy (Democrat), would replace the US Department of Agriculture with the National Academies of Science as the author of the universally-used "food...

Vits, natural actives drive US C&T market growth.
June 1, 2004... Spurred by sustained demand for anti-aging skin care products and natural ingredients, cosmetic actives will continue to lead all other categories of specialty raw materials used in cosmetics and toiletries in terms of US market growth,...

India sees better future for its herbal medicines industry.
June 1, 2004... Efforts to strengthen India's 50 billion-rupee ($1.1 billion) traditional herbal medicines industry through financial help and extensive supporting networks of voluntary and government agencies are paying off and the future is bright, according...

New Report: Labelled for Life: Making, Reading and Regulating Health Claims on Foods.
June 1, 2004... Health claims for foods are everywhere and, in most countries, regulators are struggling to catch up. The USA and Japan have been wrestling with the challenge of ushering in a more liberal climate for health claims while cracking down on abuse...

Drug authority bans herbal ads in Uganda.
June 1, 2004... Uganda's National Drug Authority has directed radio stations in the Lira district to stop running advertisements on herbal medicines, according to the Kampala Monitor. In a recent statement, NDA executive secretary Apollo Muhairwe said...

New vit-foods facility in Turkmenistan.
June 1, 2004... A new line for the production of vitamin-enriched foods for children will shortly start operation at the Korpe food producer in Gypjak, Turkmenistan, according to the Turkmen Dowlet Habarlar Gullugy new agency. The foods will include porridges...

South African vitamin production.
June 1, 2004... Statistics South Africa reports that the country produced 574 million tablets, pills and capsules of vitamins and multivitamins in 2003, compared with 631 million in 2002 and 480 million in 2001.

Formal trad medicines system for Zimbabwe.
June 1, 2004... Zimbabwe's Minister of Health and Child Welfare, David Parirenyatwa, has recently said that the government is seriously considering making traditional medicines a formal and recognized part of the health delivery system, since such products...

Probiotics in tablet form from Chr Hansen.
June 1, 2004... Danish ingredients company Chr Hansen has developed a tablet formulation of a probiotic, something which may seem simple in principle but, in fact, represented a major technical challenge. Probiotics in capsule form have been around for...

Spanish firm Nutrafur unveils heart health extract, Citrolive.
June 1, 2004... Nutrafur, the natural extracts division of Spain's Furfural Espanol, has developed a new herbal extract which, it claims, can cut blood cholesterol levels as well as act as an antioxidant. Called Citrolive, the product is a homogeneous extract...

FSANZ allows addition of phytosterol esters.
June 1, 2004... Cholesterol-lowering vegetable-derived substances known as phytosterol esters could soon be added to dairy products and breakfast cereals in Australia and New Zealand following the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand agency's opinion that...

FSANZ develops new standard for claims.
June 1, 2004... According to a spokesman for Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, a new standard is being developed at the organization for nutrition, health and related claims on food products. The new standard, for which one minor section still...

Japanese processors up functional foods sales.
June 1, 2004... A new report from Japan suggests that food processors are raising their production of functional food ingredients, or foods and beverages containing health-enhancing substances, as companies seek to develop these products into a major revenue...

Solae to hike soy prices 5%-15%.
June 1, 2004... The Solae Co, a US provider of functional ingredients, said it would raise the price of its soy-protein product portfolio 5%-15%, effective June 1. The firm explained that the price hikes are a result of the recent escalation in manufacturing,...

Himalaya USA adds to its Pure Herb line.
June 1, 2004... Himalaya USA says it is introducing Turmeric, Holy Basil, Mucuna and Shatavari to its Pure Herb line and notes that, as with all its products, each of the new single herbs is chromatographically fingerprinted for safety, potency and...

New coca-containing beverages for Peru; maker seeks legal way to other markets.
June 1, 2004... Two new bottled beverages, newly-launched in Peru, contain an extract of coca leaves, whose infamous main ingredient is cocaine. Although the amount of natural, unprocessed cocaine in the drinks is only 0.6mg this is sufficient to create a...

KGK Synergize licenses Sytrinol to SourceOne as cholesterol-fighting supp.
June 1, 2004... On the back of research which has demonstrated that citrus juices and their constituent flavanoids can reduce hypercholesterolemia, Canada's KGK Synergize, a nutraceutical contract research and product development company, has developed...

"Politically-incorrect" green tea?
June 1, 2004... US health advocates recommend three to six cups a day of green tea for its antioxidant benefits. But is it really good for you? In nutritionist Michael Barbee's new book, Politically Incorrect Nutrition: Finding Reality in the Mire of Food...

P&G's olestra now FDA OKed in popcorn.
June 1, 2004... US conglomerate Procter & Gamble says that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of its olestra fat substitute in prepackaged microwave popcorn. Olestra, which P&G markets under the Olean brand, has previously been permitted in...

NutraCea's rice bran may help reduce heart disease and stroke.
June 1, 2004... US company NutraCea says that the US Patent Office has issued patent 6,733,799 B2, allowing 20 claims under a patent entitled Method of Treating Hypercholesterolemia, Hyperlipidemia and Atherosclerosis, for its proprietary rice bran derivatives...

Buddhist jam settles the stomach.
June 1, 2004... Austria's F M Brenner has launched a digestive aid product, based on a papaya preserve and developed by monks at a monastery in Hawaii, USA, into the European marketplace. The preserve, called Caricol, is claimed to regulate the...

Jurak to develop new multi-vitamins.
June 1, 2004... Las Vegas, USA-based Jurak Corp World Wide, a network marketing and manufacturing company of dietary and herbal supplement products, says that it has partnered with Bruce Fife, a certified nutritionist and doctor of naturopathic medicine, to...

SBL launches RelaXhed in India.
June 1, 2004... SBL Private of India has introduced a new headache remedy, RelaXhed, as the first of a series of products it will bring to the Indian homeopathic market, according to Business Line of India. RelaXhed, available in tablets and drops, is...

CarbSlim Bites launch with Hess in the USA.
June 1, 2004... Breakthrough Engineered Nutrition, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Innovative Companies and which markets nutraceuticals, dietary supplements and vitamins, has launched CarbSlim Bites through Hess Corp, a leading gas retailer on the US east coast...

National Starch renames Novelose.
June 1, 2004... UK company National Starch has changed the name of its natural functional food ingredients Novelose 240 and Novelose 260 resistant starches to Hi-maize 240 and Hi-maize 260, respectively. The changes have been implemented to resolve...

Pharming sets sites on lactoferrin market, with focus on Asia-Pacific region.
June 1, 2004... Pharming of the Netherlands is making a fresh assault on the market for lactoferrin as a nutraceutical ingredient, with the Asia-Pacific region firmly in its sights. The company has just acquired a controlling stake in the Australian firm...

Bio-One acquires yet another distributor.
June 1, 2004... Having just posted a strong set of financials (see page 27), Bio-One Corp, a US company that is looking to get a strong foothold in the nutritional supplements industry via mergers and marketing deals, says that its recently-formed subsidiary...

Galaxy Nutritional settles Schreiber suit.
June 1, 2004... Galaxy Nutritional Foods, a producer of plant-based dairy alternatives, says that it has reached an out-of-court settlement in a law suit filed by Schreiber Foods, which alleged it had committed various acts of patent infringement against the...

Conj linoleic acid supp reduces body fat mass.
June 1, 2004... Findings from a study, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that the dietary supplement conjugated linoleic acid reduces body fat mass in overweight, but otherwise healthy, adults by as much as 9%....

Prebiotics in formula milk benefit infants.
June 1, 2004... Preliminary results from two ongoing studies suggest that the levels of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the gut of babies fed on formula milk can be significantly reduced by the addition of prebiotic oligosaccharides, similar to those that...

Resveratrol inhibits nuclear factor-kappa B.
June 1, 2004... Scientists from the University of Virginia, USA, have demonstrated that resveratrol, a natural antioxidant found in red wine, can help to kill cancer cells through inhibiting a protein called nuclear factor-kappa B. The latter is found in the...

Thai herb may help fight colon cancer.
June 1, 2004... A researcher at Chiang Mai University in Thailand has found that an extract from a herb known locally as bai bok or lemon grass can fight colon cancer, according to a report in the Nation newspaper. The herb contains chemical compounds with...

Another good quarter for Cyanotech Corp.
June 1, 2004... Hawaii-based Cyanotech Corp, which produces high-value natural products from microalgae, has announced its results for fiscal 2004 ended March 31, which show that net income reached $399,000, or $0.02 per share, compared with a loss of almost...

Baywood happy with start to 2004.
June 1, 2004... US nutraceutical firm Baywood International says that net sales for the three months ended March 2004 declined 3.1% to almost $530,000, while net loss was around $118,000, compared to a loss of $116,620 for the same period last year. ...

Adv Nutraceuticals looks to the future.
June 1, 2004... Advanced Nutraceuticals has posted its financials for the second quarter and the six months ended March 31, the firm's first reported results since divesting its unprofitable subsidiary ANI Pharmaceuticals (NI vol 9, no 4). The latter unit is...

Iceland's Primex buys VH's chitosan ops.
June 1, 2004... Primex of Iceland, a marine biotechnology company which is the world largest manufacturer of chitosans and chitin derivatives, is acquiring the bulk chitosan operations of the USA's Vanson HaloSource. Included in the agreement, for which...

Innovative changes name to GeoPharma.
June 1, 2004... Chief executive Mihir Taneja said: "our name change represents the last steps in our company's strategic evolution moving from simply a nutraceutical, diet supplement company to that of a generic drug manufacturing and distribution company."

Farmadiet expand in Europe, N America.
June 1, 2004... Farmadiet Group, a Spanish nutraceuticals and drugs company, plans to expand in Italy, France, Mexico and the USA this year, as part of a five-year plan to strengthen its business in the international markets. Julian Augut, Farmadiet's...

Riviana acquires the UK's Vogan.
June 1, 2004... US rice products maker Riviana Foods, through its UK joint venture S&B Herba Foods, has acquired Vogan & Co, based in Cambridgeshire. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 1831, Vogan is a miller of rice, lentils, peas and...

Numico's 1st-qtr sales and EBITA up 8%.
June 1, 2004... Netherlands-based Numico says that the first quarter of 2004 saw a strong start for its baby food and clinical nutrition businesses, with total sales growing 8.0% to 402 million euros ($477.0 million) and earnings before interest, tax and...

Royal Numico buys Valio baby foods.
June 1, 2004... Dutch nutrition firm Royal Numico has agreed to purchase Finnish firm Valio's leading baby food brands, Tutteli and Muksu, for 57 million euros ($68.8 million) cash. Earnings will be accretive to Numico from deal completion. The...

NutraCea forecasts 50% leap in 2004 sales.
June 1, 2004... California, USA-headquartered NutraCea has filed its 10K statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, containing no reference to any "going concern" opinion. The company, which develops and distributes products based on its...

Chr Hansen expands US production facilities.
June 1, 2004... Denmark's Chr Hansen has injected $10 million into the expansion of two manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin, USA, which includes the world's biggest -55C freezer and a new pharmaceutical production plant. The expansion will allow the firm to...

Banner and Rohto Pharma form alliance.
June 1, 2004... The USA's Banner Pharmacaps and Japan's Rohto Pharmaceuticals have entered into a technical and commercial agreement to provide nutritional and pharmaceutical products to the Japanese market. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed....

Beres to develop new products for growth.
June 1, 2004... Beres Gyogyszergyar, a producer of vitamins and pharmaceuticals based in Hungary, is changing its strategy for growth by increasing its focus on R&D for the development of new products, reports the Interfax news agency. The firm, according...

Nestle reports 5.1%1st-qtr organic growth.
June 1, 2004... Switzerland's Nestle Group saw its first-quarter 2004 sales rise 3.5% to 20.4 billion Swiss francs ($16.0 billion) from the like, year-earlier period. Results were mainly led by turnover from the pharmaceutical segment, but the nutrition...

ADM's 3rd-qtr net earnings rocket 94%.
June 1, 2004... Illinois, USA-headquartered agricultural processing firm Archer Daniels Midland posted a 94% leap in net earnings for the third quarter ended March 31, 2004, to $227 million, or $0.35 per share. Operating profit was up $260 million at $502...

Nutraceutical sees 2nd-qtr sales climb.
June 1, 2004... US nutritional supplements and natural products firm Nutraceutical has posted net sales for the fiscal 2004 second quarter of $37.6 million, rising 23% from last year's figure of $30.6 million. For the six months ended March 31, 2004, net sales...

Hain Celestial sees 3rd-qtr income drop 36%.
June 1, 2004... US natural and organic foods company, Hain Celestial, saw its net income drop 36% to $5 million, or $0.14 per share on a diluted basis, for the third quarter ended March 31, from $7.9 million, or $0.23 per share for the like, year-earlier...

Bio-One posts sales of $4.7M for 1st-qtr 2004.
June 1, 2004... Florida, USA-based nutritional supplements company Bio-One Corp saw sales of $4.7 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004, as opposed to the year-ago period when the firm posted zero turnover. The firm attributes this turnaround...

Natrol's 1st-qtr 2004 sales climb 7.5%.
June 1, 2004... California, USA-headquartered Natrol saw its first-quarter 2004 net earnings from continuing operations rise 7.5% to $20.4 million, from $19.0 million for the comparable period of last year. Elliott Balbert, the company's president and...

Forbes' sees net loss widen for 1st-qtr 2004.
June 1, 2004... Forbes Medi-Tech, a Canadian biophamaceutical company focused on the area of cardiovascular disease, posted a rise in first-quarter net loss to $1.7 million, or $0.06 per share, from a negligible loss recorded for the same period of last year....

Baywood to acquire Aidan Products.
June 1, 2004... The USA's Baywood International has signed a letter of intent to purchase Aidan Products. The deal, which is expected to close in September, will be accretive to Baywood's earnings this year. The acquisition is subject to all customary closing...

Profitable first qtr for PacificHealth.
June 1, 2004... Having recently posted a 64% increase in first-quarter 2004 revenues to $2.3 million (NI vol 9, no 5), PacificHealth Laboratories, a US nutritional company based in New Jersey, has also reported its first- ever first-quarter profit, with net...

Argan all set to enter nutraceutical market.
June 1, 2004... Argan of the USA, a publicly-traded holding company which until now has specialized in telecommunications and utilities, is looking to get a foothold in the nutraceuticals sector. The firm has announced that it has signed a letter of intent...

Revenues almost triple at Vital Living.
June 1, 2004... Vital Living has posted revenues of almost $1.7 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004, a leap of 291% compared with the like, year-earlier period. However, net loss shot up 161% to almost $3.4 million, or $0.06 per share, which the...

Natural Alternatives gets $12 mill credit.
June 1, 2004... Natural Alternatives International, a California-based firm which formulates and manufactures customized nutritional supplements, has obtained a new $12 million credit facility from Wells Fargo Bank. Chief financial officer John Reaves said...

Net loss decreases at Carrington Labs.
June 1, 2004... Carrington Laboratories, which manufactures and markets the nutraceutical raw material Manapol and aloe vera-based products under the Aloe Ceuticals brand, says first-quarter revenues grew 6.3% to $7.3 million. Net loss for the quarter...

Forthcoming meetings/events.
June 1, 2004... Following the success of 2002, Bangkok, Thailand, will again play host to the Food Ingredients Asia exhibition, which will take place September 15-17 at the Queen Sirikit International Conference Center. For further details on FI Asia, visit:...

People on the move.
June 1, 2004... At international nutritional ingredients maker and supplier Cognis Nutrition & Health, headquartered in Germany, Norbert Weitkemper is promoted to the post of director, global marketing, Ralf Zink (ex- Nestle), has recently joined the firm as...