TODAY: Webinar to delve into the frenzy surrounding immune health ingredients

22-Jun-2020 - Last updated on 23-Jun-2020 at 15:00 GMT

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Consumers' interest in immune-boosting products remains at an all time high, and manufacturers are rushing to market with products to fill that need, including many botanical formulas.

The desire to meet this unprecedented demand during this pandemic crisis time has led some marketers to cross the line. The US Food and Drug Administration has posted a list of companies that have been cited for illegal COVID-19 disease treatment claims. This includes a broad array of product types under FDA’s jurisdiction, including medical devices and sanitation products.

With the addition of a warning letter sent to a CBD company on June 18, the list stands at 73 offending companies today. A rough count indicates that 35 of these companies are selling dietary supplements, of which 15 are botanical product manufacturers and another six essential oils companies. A number of cited companies are also in the CBD trade and were not included in the dietary supplement count because of the continued regulatory uncertainty concerning this ingredient.

Getting to the truth of the matter

Nevertheless, there are dozens of science-backed botanical ingredients with evidence supporting their immune health claims. After all, respiration and food and fluid intake are the primary paths for pathogens into the body, and traditional medicine systems based largely on herbal ingredients have been dealing with these issues for thousands of years. Modern product formulators have built on this traditional knowledge to amass impressive fonts of herbal (and fungal) ingredients to draw on to create their modern immune support formulas.

To delve into the issues surrounding botanical ingredients during this time of heightened interest in immunity, Nutraingredients-USA is putting on a special webinar event titled Botanicals and Immunity: Herbal Ingredients to Support Healthy Immune Function. This free webinar event begins today at 11 AM Central time.

The event will include a panel discussion moderated by this reporter. Panelists include constant Steven Dentali, PhD, former chief science officer of the American Herbal Products Association and Stefan Gafner, PhD, chief science officer of the American Botanical Council. Also joining the panel will be Deepak Mundkinajeddu, PhD, head of R&D for Natural Remedies and Timothee Olagne, vice president of marketing, nutrition and health, for Naturex, part of Givaudan. Mundkinajeddu and Olagne will also present separate sessions specific to their companies’ ingredients.

Click here to register for this FREE event.