January is the traditional diet season, but consumers should be
wary of pills promising quick results - and not just because the
vast majority do not work. FDA has issued a warning about two
brands of diet pills made in Brazil and...
Cognis has been denied permission to make a qualified health claim
for the consumption of its Xangold brand lutein esters and reduced
risk of age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
Wholegrain barley and barley-containing products are allowed to
claim that they reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, ruled
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just before Christmas.
Supplements purporting to protect against avian 'flu are making
unproven, fraudulent claims, says the FDA, which has issued warning
letters to eight companies that say their products could be
effective against the disease.
In the absence of definitive action from the FDA, food
manufacturers should take the initiative to promote whole grains to
the American public, clearly indicating if products are an
excellent source or a good source of whole grains,...
A petition filed by General Mills requesting the development of
definitions for 'excellent source,' 'good source' and 'made with'
whole grains has been denied by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA).
Under a rule change food makers can add more vitamin D3 to their
cheese products, allowing them to make the claim they are 'good' or
'excellent' sources of vitamin D.
A proposal from the California Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to list areca nut and betel quid as
chemicals known by the state to cause cancer could impact the
activities of some American Herbal Products...
Consumers who encounter supplements that claim to prevent or cure
avian 'flu should exercise caution, according to an industry
coalition which holds that therapies should be recommended only by
qualified healthcare professionals...
A Utah-based company's reintroduction of ephedra-containing dietary
supplements when the legal position is still unclear could prove
damaging for the industry at large.
Mandatory serious adverse events reporting for dietary supplements
is inevitable and, so long as there are protections in place, will
be good for the industry, according to the three main associations.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week sent warning letters
to 34 website operators making claims that natural alternatives to
hormone replacement therapy (HRT) will prevent or treat diseases
like cancer, heart disease, or osteoporosis.
The FDA has delivered its long-awaited decision on health claims
petitions on tomatoes/lycopene, approving only limited claims on
tomatoes and tomato sauce but denying claims for tomato-based
products and dietary supplements.
The dietary supplements industry is likely to see a lot more
product liability lawsuits in the aftermath of ephedra, according
to law firm Banowsky and Levine, and companies need to protect
themselves against litigation.
California-based Natural Products has agreed to stop making further
false and misleading claims about its weight-loss products, said
the Federal Trade Commission this week.
The dietary supplements industry is bracing itself for the
long-awaited final rule on current good manufacturing practices
(cGMP), which has now been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget for review.
Makers of calcium supplements can make a qualified health claim for
their possible reduction of high blood pressure, after the Food and
Drug Administration concluded that there is some evidence for the
claim.
The FDA is unconvinced that cherries pack as much of a health punch
as some marketers of cherry-based products are claiming. It has
issued warning letters to 29 companies, telling them to stop making
disease prevention or treatment...
The American Herbal Products Association has issued a reminder to
supplement makers whose products contain major food allergens that
as of January 1 2006 they, like all food companies, must include
specific warnings on their labeling.
A herbal trade organisation last week challenged two federal
agencies to correct past statements that used misleading
descriptions of dietary supplements and echinacea.
A new law that bans Californian high school athletes from using
ephedra, DHEA or bitter orange was signed by governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger on Friday, raising industry fears that it could harm
the reputation of all supplements.
The FTC and Canada's Competition Bureau are aiming to warn more
consumers off popping diet pills that make false claims for fast
weight-loss, with their own spoof website pretending to tout such
products.
The reputation of the entire dietary supplements industry is at
risk if athletes who seek to explain failed steroid tests on the
grounds that they must have ingested contamination dietary
supplements do not name the offending products,...
The California Assembly is expected to vote this week on a
controversial bill that seeks to outlaw the use of ephedrine
alkaloids, DHEA and synephrine by high school athletes in the
state, which has attracted criticism from the dietary...
The FDA has issued a favorable response to a qualified health claim
petition filed by Nutrition 21 for the nutritional supplement
chromium picolinate, though it concluded that any link between
chromium picolinate and either insulin...
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a
qualified health claim petition for chromium picolinate that claims
the supplement may reduce the risk of insulin resistance and
possibly type 2 diabetes.
Dietary supplements made following the National Organics Program's
requirements for organic foods may now be certified as organic and
bear the USDA seal, according to a memorandum sent out by the USDA
this week to its accredited...
Two months before it goes to trial, the FDA has told California
attorney general Bill Lockyer that his lawsuit against the canned
tuna industry over mercury warnings could cause consumers to eat
less fish and miss out on the health...
The American Herbal Products Association is pressing its point that
dietary supplements which meet the National Organic Program's
organic guidelines for food should be allowed to bear the USDA's
organic seal.
LycoRed has fulfilled the FDA's GRAS requirements with its
Lyc-O-Mato Powder for functional foods - news which the company
expects will encourage its use by large food companies.
New regulations on the export of wild ginseng root aim to help
preserve the plant from extinction but could cause problems for the
herbals industry, at least over the next five years.
The introduction of a bill that would enable Americans receiving
food stamps to spend them on vitamins and minerals has met with
applause from supplements industry associations on the grounds that
it would help low-income families...
The American Herbal Products Association is endeavoring to quell
fears that the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA),
passed on Thursday, will have an impact on US dietary supplements
regulations, writes Jess Halliday.
A new bill proposing that risk-benefit analysis of dietary
supplements should not be dose dependent would make for a 'bad
law', according to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA),
and seems to have been predicated...
Health Canada is warning Canadians against using unauthorized
Ayurvedic medicinal products amid fears that high levels of heavy
metals could present a health risk, reports Jess Halliday.
The European food supplements directive is valid, decided a
European court ruling today, ending months of uncertainty for much
of the region's supplements industry, and disappointing those
behind a major effort to overturn the...
The FDA has approved a petition by Unilever to allow the use of
vitamin D3 as a nutrient supplement in meal and snack replacement
products and is amending its food additive regulations accordingly,
writes Jess Halliday.
The FDA is warning consumers against taking a Chinese dietary
supplement called Ligaing 4 because it contains the drug glyburide
and could pose life-threatening dangers to diabetics and those with
low blood sugar users.
Global standards for vitamin and mineral supplements were adopted
by Codex yesterday, despite some last minute requests for
amendments and consumer group campaigns to stall the ratification,
writes Dominique Patton.
Drinking green tea is highly unlikely to help prevent breast,
prostate or any other type of cancer, the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) said last week, after reviewing the evidence
to support a health claim, reports Dominique...
Sabinsa Corporation has lowered the heavy metal limits for Selenium
SeLECT in the face of tightening regulations in the European Union
and interest from research institutes who wish to use it in
studies, reports Jess Halliday.
A lawsuit targeting Kraft, General Mills and Dannon for dishonest
advertising over weight-loss claims has been attacked as a front
for animal rights extremists, writes Anthony Fletcher.
The packaging of herbal dietary supplements too closely resembles
that of drugs, according to the American Medical Association (AMA),
which is campaigning for a change in labeling, packaging and
advertising regulations to make the...
Companies may spend thousands of dollars putting together a health
claims petition, but in the past year their efforts to make public
links between certain ingredients and health benefits have been
held up by delays in the FDA's...
The cost burden of prescription drugs could be dramatically slashed
if physicians could prescribe scientifically-proven functional
foods and diets to treat certain medical conditions, reports
Jess Halliday.
The FDA has requested an extension in its review of yet another
health claims petition, for Nutrition 21's submission linking
chromium picolinate with a reduced risk of insulin resistance, type
2 diabetes and related disease,...
A handful of countries are threatening the adoption next month of
new world standards on how to set maximum levels of vitamins and
minerals, reports Dominique Patton.
The FDA will appeal to the United States Court of Appeal for the
Tenth Circuit over the Utah court ruling that the FDA had failed to
meet its burden of proof that a daily dose of 10 mg or less of
ephedrine alkaloids presents an unreasonable...
Manufacturers and consumers may have very different perceptions of
what constitutes a 'natural' product, but misunderstandings could
become history if the industry chooses to abide by a set of
definitions drawn up by the...
The National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA) is stepping up
its campaign over a bill that would classify DHEA
(dehydroepiandrosterone) as an anabolic steroid and lead to its
withdrawal from the market.