Regulatory

If you manufacture a product with phytosterols, beware. A series of recent regulatory developments is giving the health claim a face lift.

FDA noticeably increased its enforcement of food and dietary supplement labeling violations last year.

In case you haven’t noticed, there are a few more players in the certification business for natural and organic beauty products.

The future of GRAS processes and procedures.

Dietary Supplements and China: Supply-Chain Woes. Who's to Blame?

Testing dietary supplements for quality, safety, and efficacy.

A newly proposed Food Chemicals Codex standard aims to help companies verify whether their ingredients are natural.

Its new manufacturing facility, opened last July, has been certified by NSF International for compliance with cGMPs.

The association has certified a milestone 600 natural products and ingredients for both personal care and home care.

A newly published Food and Drug Law Institute monograph is designed to advise on developing and substantiating health claims for dietary supplements and foods.

USDA and FDA will lose $235 million in related funding.

The Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus will remain a voice for dietary supplements on Capitol Hill.

The company has earned SWF 2000 Code Level III certification from NSF International.

The program certifies that a supplier’s food safety and quality-management systems comply with international and domestic food-safety regulations.

Manufacturers of phytosterol products now have 12 months to reformulate products and labels for heart health claims.

Algatechnologies announced that its natural AstaPure brand has received GRAS status from FDA for use in food and beverages.

Following an announcement by NSF International (Ann Arbor, MI) and NaTrue (Brussels, Belgium) that the companies plan to develop a new certification program for natural personal care products, the Natural Products Association has spoken out against the initiative.

The Natural Products Foundation is helping to clean up industry of illegal marketing claims by conducting its own voluntary product reviews.

The agency's expert panel supports the claim that thiamin "contributes to the maintenance of normal neurological development and function.”

Chitin-glucan fiber ingredient Artinia, targeting cardiovascular support, has been self-affirmed Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS).

"Tested Green" was doling out environmental certifications without conducting any testing.

The BioPreferred program lets companies label the amount of renewable resources used in product packaging.

While a wealth of scientific evidence demonstrates the beneficial role of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for general wellness and multiple health conditions, the strongest evidence by far is in the area of cardiovascular health.

Editor’s Note: On December 2, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA; Parma, Italy) held a meeting in Amsterdam with the intention of clarifying its process of reviewing Article 13 and Article 14 health claims, specifically those concerning gut and immune health. The probiotics community was well represented at the meeting, which was led by members of EFSA’s Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies (NDA) panel. Below are reflections from the meeting from representatives of probiotics specialist Danisco A/S (Denmark).

It is a difficult time to be operating in the European functional foods space. Ingredient suppliers in particular have endured months of nervous anticipation as they wait for European Food Safety Authority (EFSA; Parma, Italy) opinions on health claims being assessed under the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (EU Regulation EC/1924/2006).

A beverage cannot be "nutritious" if it has 23 grams of sugar, says the U.K. Advertising Standards Agency.

Claiming that FDA is currently hampered in evaluating “potentially false or misleading structure/function claims,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended in a new report that the agency be given the power to request evidence of substantiation from companies.

The rule could change the procedure for "self-affirmed" Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status.