News

The American Academy of Dermatology (Schaumburg, IL) issued a statement on December 4 advising the public to obtain vitamin D from their diet and dietary supplements, rather than exposing themselves to UV radiation from the sun.

Silliker, Inc. (Homewood, IL) has received a grant to study the allicin bioavailability of garlic products, the company announced on November 24.

Pacific Rainbow International (PRI; Industry, CA) will double its warehouse and office space, the company announced on November 18. “This expansion will enable us to dramatically increase on-site inventory of our most popular ingredients,” said Herman Zhang, PRI president. “In addition, it will give us the capability to inventory new ingredients we don’t normally stock.”

Ecuadorian Rainforest’s (Belleville, NJ) vice president of marketing, Steve Siegel, will conduct a “Nutraceuticals 2009” webinar on December 11th, 2008 at 2:00pm. The seminar will look at “a new year full of new ingredients, new trends and an ever changing economy,” the company said.

Long-term use of Vitamins C and E does not prevent cancer, concluded the Physicians' Health Study II, the American Association for Cancer Research (Philadelphia) announced on November 16.

Jarrow Formulas (Los Angeles) has given about 1,650 bottles of vitamins to the Necessities of Life Program, a part of AIDS Project Los Angeles, the company announced on November 13.

Vitamins C and E were not effective in preventing cardiovascular disease in males, concluded the Physician’s Health Study II that will be published in the November 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

ChromaDex (Irvine, CA) and Cargill (Wayzata, MN) have partnered to standardize the quality of stevia-related products, ChromaDex announced on November 10.

Winners of the Western Canadian Functional Food & Natural Health Product Network (WCFN) were announced on November 3. Recipients are Kelley Fitzpatrick, president of NutriTech Consulting and director of Nutrition at Flax Canada 2015, Solo GI Nutrition (Edmonton, AB), Manitoba Food Processors Association (Winnipeg, Ontario), and Advanced Foods and Materials Network (AFMNet; Guelph, Ontario).

Raw ingredient manufacturer ZMC-USA (The Woodlands, TX) received the Frost & Sullivan (Palo Alto, CA) award for Best Practices, representing the North American Coenzyme Q10 Emerging Company of the Year award.

A new study released in the October issue of the Journal of Gerontology showed supplementation with Carnipure may support healthy aging.

On October 28, two of Bayer HealthCare’s (Leverkusen, Germany) over-the-counter products were met with warning letters from FDA (Rockville, MD). Two of the company’s OTC aspirin products - Bayer Women\'s Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium (Bayer Women\'s) and Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage (Bayer Heart Advantage) - require “new drug application” in order to be marketed legally.

Selenium and vitamin E supplements, used together or separately, did not prevent prostate cancer, concluded a review of data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI; Rockville, MD).

BASF Corporation (Florham Park, NJ), the American base of the German-based chemical company, will present the S.E.T. (Sustainability, Eco-Efficiency, and Traceability) Initiative, in a VendorWorks session at the Supply Side West Conference.

BLIS Technologies Ltd. (Dunedin, New Zealand), developer of BLIS K12, a probiotic for upper airways infection prevention such as bacterial sore throats, tooth and gum disease and chronic bad breath, announced on October 17 that it had signed a distribution agreement with Frutarom, USA (North Bergen, NJ).

Alkemists Pharmaceuticals (Costa Mesa, CA) is on its way to becoming a carbon-neutral analytical laboratory by offsetting 100% of its CO2 emissions, the company said on July 30.

ChromaDex Corp. (Irvine, CA) raised $4.2 million through a private placement stock offering that began in March, the company said on August 8. New Castle Financial Services (New York City) acted as the private placement agent for the transaction, which yielded gross proceeds of $4.67 million.

Natural Alternatives International (NAI; San Marcos, CA) sold its As We Change catalog and Internet business for $2 million in cash, the company announced on August 5.The sale of the catalog business, operated by NAI’s wholly owned subsidiary Real Health Laboratories Inc., will enable NAI to concentrate on its private label and contract manufacturing clients.

The U.S. Pharmacopeia (Rockville, MD) opened a new, 1800-sq-meter facility in the Wtorre Technology Park in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 18. The facility, situated close to several of USP’s pharmaceutical clients, contains state-of-the-art office and laboratory space that the organization will use to dispense its publications and reference standards to local manufacturers.

German consumers will soon be the first in Europe to be able to buy low acrylamide baked goods, according to DSM Food Specialities. A German manufacturer of Speculatius Christmas biscuits will launch the biscuits in October in time for the Christmas.

The “Life…supplemented” Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study found that 79% of physicians and 82% of nurses recommend dietary supplements to their patients. The study also showed that 72% of physicians and 89% of nurses personally use vitamin, mineral, herbal and other supplements either regularly, occasionally or seasonally. In comparison, 68% of adults regularly take nutritional or dietary supplements.

A study published in the December 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has raised important philosophical issues regarding nutrient research and demonstrated the confusion when new research contradicts earlier work.

Living and working together in common-law fashion since 1993, Van Dorn Demag and Demag Ergotech will now formally tie the knot under an umbrella holding group called Demag Plastics Group. The two companies announced their engagement in August but used a teleconference on Nov.