Across the Nutraverse: New Jersey attempted restrictions, France’s new supplements platform and natural product regulation in NZ
USA: NJ State Assembly passes bill to prohibit certain supplement sales to minors
The New Jersey Assembly voted 56-17 to pass a bill that seeks to prohibit the sale of certain diet pills and dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building.
A.1848 aims to restrict access to two broad categories of products—weight loss and muscle building—by mandating retailer-imposed age restrictions that sponsors of the bill assert cause eating disorders.
This would include products formulated with creatine, green tea extract, raspberry ketone, Garcinia cambogia and/ or green coffee bean extract, and relates to products that are marketed to “modify, maintain, or reduce body weight, fat, appetite, overall metabolism, or the process by which nutrients are metabolized … or maintain or increase muscle or strength”.
The bill advanced with 56 votes in favor, 17 against and four abstentions. However, there is currently no accompanying bill in the state’s Senate.
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France: New platform uses tech to boost supplement safety and transparency
The French Ministry of Agriculture has launched Compl’Alim, a mandatory online system for declaring new supplements.
The platform, which replaces former system Téléicare, features an automated pathway based on product composition plus a search function for users to check the regulatory status of different ingredients.
This connects to databases from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the French agency ANSES, providing information on legal labelling requirements and marketing restrictions.
Future plans for Compl’Alim include creating an open data catalog, plus a new digital system allowing consumers to report undeclared products.
Commenting independently, Luca Bucchini, managing director at Hylobates Consulting, told us that the platform is “slick and ambitious” and “may enhance transparency and trust as claimed.”
“The database could potentially be an important tool for industry, providing a degree of certainty when ingredients appear as ‘autorisé’—especially if compared with the previous Téléicare,” he said.
However, Bucchini added that industry needs to be realistic about its applications.
“The platform has errors, lacks comprehensiveness and carries no legal weight, as explicitly stated on its website,” he said. “A rapid update system is essential. Without this, the ambition risks falling flat.”
Read our full coverage on NutraIngredients-Europe.
New Zealand: New natural products bill causes ‘grave concerns’ over exports
The New Zealand government will introduce a new bill to regulate natural products, but no decisions have been taken on the scope or approach to be adopted.
The bill will be developed following engagement with the natural health products sector.
“Work on a new natural health products bill will not commence until after we have engaged with stakeholders; and no decisions have been taken on the scope or approach to be adopted in the bill,” said the Ministry of Health.
