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.

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.

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.

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.

FDA’s ability to regulate the safety of dietary supplements using nanomaterials is inadequate due to a lack of information, resources and statutory authority in certain areas, according to a new report released by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN; Washington, DC).

Ecuadorian Rainforest (Belleville, NJ) has launched an online video titled, “Nutraceuticals 2009,” the company announced on January 9. The video presents the top ingredients of 2008 based on ER sales figures and showcases new ingredients for 2009. The video can be viewed for free at: http://www.intotherainforest.com/blog/

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA; Silver Spring, MD) supported the FDA’s efforts to recall products marketed as dietary supplements that contained undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients, AHPA said on January 9.

In a new study, Fuji Health’s (Burlington, NJ) brand of natural astaxanthin extract (AstaREAL) derived from Haematococcus microalgae was detected in the iris/ciliary body of New Zealand albino rabbit eyes 24 hours after ingestion, the company announced on January 6.

Aloha Medicinals (Carson City, NV) announced the construction of a second proprietary nanoparticle manufacturing device, the company said on January 6. Aloha first introduced nano-sized medicinal mushroom products in early 2008.

Responding to the growing popularity of a plant-based sweetener, the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP; Rockville, MD) Convention today announced it is developing a new standard to be included in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) that will help food and beverage manufacturers assure the product’s quality for consumers.

In a study released on December 18, Scientia (Palo Alto, CA) predicts an annual compound growth rate of 7% through 2012, averaged across all segments of the industry.

BASF Corp. (Wilmington, NC) announced on December 18 that it will close its Wilmington, NC, vitamins manufacturing site by March 31, 2009.

FDA issued a “no objection” letter to the GRAS status of rebaudioside A (Reb A), the stevia extract used in PureVia, PepsiCo’s (Purchase, NY) all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener, PepsiCo announced on December 17.

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA; Silver Spring, MD) has petitioned U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP; Rockville, MD) to adopt AHPA’s guidance limits for heavy metals in “orally consumed botanical-containing finished products,” AHPA announced on December 16.