The UK government will finalize its decision on mandatory folic acid fortification of white flour next year following blood folate tests, says the Department of Health (DoH).
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has thrown out a challenge to the EU nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) but the German lawyers behind the action say the ruling was based on a technical issue and may appeal.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a draft EU novel foods approval to UK company Sporomex for shells derived from the clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum) plant.
Supplement-like products that do not possess a registration under the European Union Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD), including Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs), will be banned in retail environments in the UK...
French food supplements manufacturer Arkopharma has had its ‘EU medical device’ status revoked for a cranberry product that claimed to treat urinary tract infections (UTI) in women.
Breastfeeding advocate Baby Milk Action (BMA) has accused the Danone Group of attempting to “whitewash” the activities of its Nutricia India business, which is facing allegations it approved illegal payments to doctors.
Industry representative Specialised Nutrition Europe (SNE) has welcomed a draft European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Scientific Opinion that “recognized” the nutritional value of infant and follow-on formula products already on the market.
EFSA last year concluded the safety profile of herbal stimulant yohimbe is inconclusive. Ban it anyway, says the chair of the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance (ESSNA) in this guest article.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has backtracked on a decision to close its doors on EU novel foods applications after stakeholder unrest at the UK government austerity driven measure.
Lithuania has sent a list of 182 botanicals it intends to ban in food supplements to the European Commission in a move one major supplier called “a step back” for EU harmonisation and free trade.
UK FSA: "If you are interested in submitting a novel food dossier to the EU, we advise you to contact another EU member state..."
The European Union’s central science agency must become more transparent to meet rapid technological change in food and agriculture, its likely next chief told the European Parliament this week. And conflicts of interest were not an issue.
There is light at the end of the tunnel for a European whey wholesaler, as a long-running dispute over EU import duties on milk fat in whey protein is finally coming to an end.
The Natural Algae Astaxanthin Association (NAXA) has again questioned the quality and regulatory status of DSM’s synthetic astaxanthin ingredient, with new data reportedly showing ‘vastly inferior antioxidant potential’ compared with the natural, algae-derived...
Over half of eye health supplements on the French market fraudulently contained meso-zeaxanthin, a cheaper and unauthorised stereoisomer of regular zeaxanthin, according to a two-year investigation by a French watchdog.
The Danone Group has acknowledged that its Nutricia India business is still at “risk of non-compliance” with the Infant Milk Substitutes Act (IMS Act), DairyReporter.com can exclusively reveal.
UK ASA: "Court action is a last resort but we will issue such action if other measures fail"
Joint health claims made by a Dutch-made collagen, glucosamine and omega-3 based food supplement, have been kyboshed by the UK advertising watchdog. But Finitri, the Dutch firm, has gone underground and the disputed claims remain on its website.
The European Commission over-stepped its jurisdiction with its guidance on generic descriptors, and applicants could challenge rejections, according to an EU food law expert.
Italy has legally adopted a harmonised list of about 1000 approved botanicals for use in food supplements, following a joint research effort with Belgium and France (BELFRIT).
Cross-border communication must be provided to combat the confusion caused by the 24 subtly different language versions of EU-approved health claims, as well as countless other cultural nuances, according to an EU food law expert.
The European Commission has finally given its approval to Quatrefolic as a food supplement within the EU following a positive ruling from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) last October.
Consumers are baffled by ambiguous messages about healthy eating and need help to unravel the labelling conundrum, warns the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Most preparations from the same botanical family can be presumed safe without individual assessments, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found.
With the UK’s first goats’ milk infant formula set to hit shelves in coming weeks, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is warning consumers that the products are not a suitable alternative for cows’ milk allergic infants.
Europe’s largest sports nutrition group says EU-approved claims around glycaemic carbohydrates are constrained by burdensome conditions of use and should be modified to avoid consumer confusion.
It is not in the interests of major infant manufacturers, such as Nestlé or Danone, to purposely violate breast-milk substitute marketing regulations, last week's Zenith International Infant Nutrition Conference heard.
The brand name of a food supplement aimed at diabetics called Diabetone is protected under the EU nutrition and health claim regulation (NHCR), the UK advertising watchdog has found. But it ruled against what it found to be text suggestive of treatment.
Product developers are in constant search mode for ways to differentiate their products, and that search has always included delivery system innovation. But without keeping a weather eye on US regulations, they may end up being too smart for their own...
The question of how to define and label nano-scale ingredients will return to the drawing board, after the European Parliament rejected the Commission’s proposed regulation on Wednesday.
The UK Food standards Agency (FSA) is asking for expert views on a novel foods application for the use of cycloastragenol in food supplements in the EU.
Sanofi-Aventis has said the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) rejection of its application to broaden the already approved sterol-stanols cholesterol lowering claim to powdered supplements won’t affect the company commercially, but they will be...
EFSA has issued new guidance on the adequate intake (AI) levels for the B vitamins biotin and pantothenic acid at 40 µg per day and 5 mg per day, respectively.
UK-based Probiotics International Ltd (PIL) is replacing all references to ‘probiotics’ with ‘live bacteria’ in its marketing materials after the UK advertising watchdog ruled ‘probiotic’ to be an unauthorised implied health claim under EU rules.
A German mineral water containing four juices, sugars and sweeteners and a high dose of caffeine has failed to impress EFSA scientists, despite a dossier containing 31 supporting studies.
Vitamin D is important for thenormal development of bones and teeth among babies, infants, children and adults, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found in a new article 14 opinion.
Replacing vegetable oils with an esterified vegetable oil in infant formulas will not soften infant stools, and a choline form will not boost vision, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found.
Less than 75mg of caffeine per serving does not increase alertness, and the cholesterol-lowering ability of plant sterols cannot be communicated in food supplements, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found in two new opinions.
Higher doses of plant stanols and sterols are equally effective at reducing cholesterol in susceptible individuals, a European Commission meeting has ruled despite stanols players claiming the scientific consensus shows their version is more efficacious.
As the clock counts down to the EU’s mandatory food labelling rule changes – due to be enforced on December 13 2014 – we chart reaction to the legislation in quotes from people responsible for making sense of the new rules.
A 21-tonne container of Chinese shellfish-sourced raw glucosamine powder has passed border inspection at a UK port, the first to do so since a January quality control crackdown on animal-sourced glucosamine, chondroitin and chitosan.
Trading Standards (TS) don’t have the resources to check for the potentially dangerous unapproved novel foods illegally on sale on the UK market, it has emerged.
The founder of the International Probiotics Association (IPA) has called on the Global Alliance for Probiotics (GAP) to work with it to develop the science and dossiers that can win health claims in Europe and elsewhere.
DSM Nutritional Products (DNP) has applied for an article 14 claim linking omega-3 and brain function under the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR).
Infant formulas fortified with nutrients like prebiotics and probiotics and omega-3s do not provide, “a clear benefit as compared to control formula”, says a report published this week by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
