All News

Phosphotech (Saint-Herblain Cedex, France) and Enzymotec (Springfield, NJ) have signed a marketing agreement to target the nutraceutical market in France.

The sale of U.S organic products, both food and non-food, reached $24.6 billion by the end of 2008, growing 17.1% over 2007 sales, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which yesterday made available final results from its 2009 Organic Industry Survey.

Danisco (Copenhagen, Denmark) is introducing a new enzyme called LysoMax for vegetable oil refiners. The enzyme is claimed to increase yield during refining, and enable more sustainable use of water and energy.

Capsugel (Peapack, NJ ) has announced the launch of Pre-Pro Combo, which is designed to contain a combination of prebiotic and probiotic ingredients. Utilizing its Moisture Defense System (MDS) design, which includes the use of capsule-in-a-capsule technology, the capsule offers natural products marketers the opportunity to enter the growing probiotic market "with an innovative edge," according to the company.

CapsCanada announced today that it has formally acquired two additional bovine hide gelatin production facilities.

The Food and Drug Administration that we know, love, and on occasion love to hate, may soon be a memory. The winds of change are blowing toward Rockville, and the agency may never be the same.

Packaged Facts estimates that sales of certified kosher foods swelled from nearly $150 billion in 2003 to more than $200 billion in 2008, demonstrating a compound annual growth rate twice that of the overall food market. The increase is largely attributable to the rising number of certified products, as well as a growing number of consumers who deliberately seek out kosher foods. Packaged Facts does not see traditional or "ethnic" kosher foods contributing to market growth.

Of all the foods in all the world, who would have guessed that peanuts would be the cause of a national food safety shiver that in all likelihood will change how FDA does business?

On November 21, FTC announced it is seeking public comments on proposed revisions to the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. The revisions are intended to ensure that testimonials describe typical consumer experiences. FTC will stop accepting public comments on January 30, 2009. We spoke with John P. Feldman, a partner at Reed Smith (Washington, DC), about the proposed changes.

In response to an FDA (Rockville, MD) decision declaring products containing pyridoxamine dihydrochloride are not dietary supplements under DSHE, the Council for Responsible Nutrition issued the following statement: “CRN accepts as established law under DSHEA the requirement that an article that has been authorized for investigation as a new drug and subjected to substantial clinical investigation prior to its being marketed as a dietary supplement or a food may not be marketed as a dietary supplement.

Cyvex Nutrition (Milwaukee, WI) will be the exclusive distributor for Chr. Hansen's (Irvine, CA) line of phytonutrients.

Deerland Enzymes (Kennesaw, GA) recently invested in several capital expenditures at its Kennesaw headquarters. These expenditures included improved bulk blending capabilities for both large and small batch sizes, high speed encapsulation capabilities along with a broader spectrum of capsule sizes, a new tableting line to broaden manufacturing capabilities, automated bottling and labeling capacity, and automated inspection equipment.

Next Pharmaceuticals (Salinas, CA) has announced their expanded website, www.nextpharmaceuticals.com. Scientific articles that support their branded proprietary raw materials may now be accessed. The site also addresses product manufacturers. “Next Pharmaceuticals has grown significantly since the company’s inception into the dietary supplement industry and it was time that our website reflected that growth and loyalty to our customers,” said Charles Kosmont, NP CEO.

Devansoy (Rock City, IL) has assumed complete ownership of their soy plant previously jointly operated with Berner Foods (Dakota, IL).

In a partnership with Trees for the Future (Silver Spring, MD), Himalaya Herbal Healthcare (Houston), makers of LiverCare, planted 49,750 trees in the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the company’s home country of India.

BI Nutraceuticals (Long Beach, CA) has begun an education program designed to inform the dietary supplement industry about the FDA's (Rockville, MD) ban on the use of both irradiation and ethylene oxide (ETO) as a means of sterilization for raw materials.

A research team at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) has created an analysis method to detect levels of melamine in the low parts-per-billion in milk and milk powder in about 25 seconds.

AHPA (Silver Spring, MD) announced its paper, “Heavy metal analysis and interim recommended limits for botanical dietary supplements,” on January 20. The paper provides industry with information on successful compliance with current good manufacturing practices (GMP).

Vitiva (Markovci, Slovenia) has opened a subsidiary office in the UK for its natural rosemary extract formulations used for food and beverage preservation.

Horphag Research (Geneva), suppliers of Pycnogenol, has earned the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Health Ingredients Excellence in Research of the Year Award.

In light of the popularity of botanical supplements in Europe, the European Botanical Forum (EBF; Brussels) has released its first fact file detailing the nutritional role of these ingredients. The file aims to correct some commonly-held misapprehensions, and offers an overview of aspects related to the use of these ingredients in food supplements. It includes regulatory and practical information on their current use.

In response to a recent report released by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN; Washington, DC) detailing the regulatory challenges posed by nanomaterials, Andrew Shao of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), released this statement: “Nanotechnology has been used in various products for decades, including drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, conventional foods and dietary supplements. As the prevalence of nanomaterials continues to rise, FDA (Rockville, MD) is examining how to best address this emerging technology in all regulated industries.

A federal judge has ordered infomercial marketer Kevin Trudeau to pay more than $37 million for violating a 2004 stipulated order by misrepresenting the content of his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.”

A federal district court has ordered the marketers of three dietary supplements to pay more than $15 million for deceiving consumers about the products’ safety and effectiveness. The court imposed the final monetary judgment and permanent prohibitions against the marketers in December 2008, after granting the FTC's (Washington, DC) motion for summary judgment last June.