Daniel Schatzman

Branded and proprietary ingredients offer at least four benefits, according to experts.

More than 80% of Americans are currently consuming or would consider consuming foods with added health and wellness benefits.

June 2008 was the deadline for large companies with more than 500 employees to comply with the final good manufacturing practices (GMPs) for dietary supplements. As the June 2009 and June 2010 deadlines for midsize and small companies loom closer, some manufacturers are still struggling to fulfill the rule's product-testing requirements. The April 2008 recall of two dietary supplement brands found to contain 200 times the amount of selenium listed on their labels highlights the fact that not every company is ready, willing, or able to hit the ground running.

The era of belt-tightening has begun. According to a February 2008 survey from AC Nielsen (New York City), consumer confidence is dropping in 21 out of 48 markets around the world. Just slightly more than one-third of shoppers think the next 12 months are a good time to buy something they want or need. And more and more consumers are reporting that they have no spare cash left after paying for basic expenses.

Allévo, a ready-to-drink shake, contains DSM’s Fabuless satiety inducer.

If you are a man, woman, senior citizen, athlete, or fan of Native American cuisine, there is a nutrition bar for you. And more bars are on the way.

Health-minded consumers are increasingly turning to functional foods and beverages. According to a new report from Datamonitor (London), 65% of Americans and Europeans are taking active steps to eat healthier. These steps include not only the avoidance of excess calories, fat, sugar, and salt, but also the pursuit of nutrient-rich foods that may improve their well-being.

Inflammation afflicts a wide swath of Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta), nearly 46 million people in the United States suffer from arthritis and painful joint swelling. But other conditions linked to inflammation, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and asthma, strike millions more and cost tens of billions of dollars per year to treat.

  If one word could summarize the industry’s hopes and fears over the past 12 months, that word would be safety. A string of food scares in 2007 severely eroded public confidence in FDA. Meanwhile, a wave of negative media articles dented public confidence in dietary supplements and functional foods, two market segments that have been under increasing scrutiny.

 While it may be true that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, eating berries, nuts, and other sweet foods won’t hurt either. Some of the latest nutrition research explores the idea that anti­oxidants in fruit may play a role in preventing health problems associated with metabolic syndrome, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and diabetes.

  In 2006, the Beauty from Within concept bloomed. This year, as manufacturers ready the next wave of cosmeceuticals, some of the newest products combine oral approaches to skin care with topical items, such as lotions and creams, for an added synergistic effect. Many of the newest cosmeceuticals are actually based on ingredients with a long history of use in other applications, making them familiar to manufacturers and consumers alike.

  Over the past few years, researchers have questioned several long-standing assumptions about the ability of dietary supplements to influence gender-related health conditions like prostate cancer and menopause. Other experts, however, have criticized some of these findings, noting that they were not based on randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, but rather on other types of studies intended to answer different scientific questions.