The UK herbal sector has reached an agreement with the medicines
regulator over labelling of black cohosh products with liver injury
warnings, and has asked it to review the safety data again next
year.
The Indian nutraceutical, supplement and functional foods market
looks set to open up new opportunities international companies,
with a new bill that will regulate these products under a discrete
food category.
New Zealand dairy Fonterra must add a warning label to its new
vitamin K-enriched milk and yoghurt to reduce the risk for people
taking the blood thinning drug Warfarin, said the New Zealand food
authorities yesterday.
Plans are already afoot to ensure input from all concerned at the
next stage of setting maximum vitamin and mineral levels in
supplements and fortified foods under EU law, with a conference
planned by EHPM in November.
Canadian softgels supplier Accucaps is prepared to introduce its
encapsulation products across the high-potential EU after being
added to the bloc's consolidated list of approved suppliers.
Supplement associations across ASEAN countries have joined forces
with the formation of the ASEAN Alliance of Heath Supplement
Associations (AAHSA), which aims to facilitate industry input into
harmonized regulation currently in the...
The only way to convince European governments on the safety and
efficacy of kava kava and to restore the industry in the South
Pacific is to conduct clinical studies and look further into the
mechanism, says expert on herbal safety...
The herb kava kava is to remain banned in both medicinal and food
products in the UK, following a review of the latest scientific
evidence weighing its reputed benefits for alleviating anxiety and
inducing sleep against the risk of...
With Europe-wide health claims regulation moving towards
completion, there is some anxiety within the food industry on how
to best to prepare itself - even though EFSA has not yet published
submissions guidelines or come up with a...
The UK's Joint Health Claims Initiative (JHCI) has conducted a
review of its own guidance on health claims submissions, with the
aim of helping the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) develop
processes for when the impending...
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
is introducing warnings labels for black cohosh products on
potential liver damage, following reports from two committees that
have reviewed the safety data...
Ireland's National Committee on Folic Acid Fortication today
recommended that most white, brown and wholemeal breads sold in the
country be fortificed with 120 micrograms of folic acid per 100g of
bread in a bid to reduce incidence...
Companies involved in a 1990s global vitamin cartel have reached a
A$30.5m (€18.2m) settlement with plaintiffs in a class action suit
to brought by individuals and companies who claimed to have
suffered losses as a result of price-fixing.
The UK's Food Standards Agency is springing into action to
formulate a response to the EC discussion document on maximum
vitamin and mineral levels, which failed to take into account the
country's proposed two-tier systems.
The UK government is coming under fire from the Conservative party
for failing to have recommendations for a two-tier system of upper
levels for vitamins and minerals heard by the EC.
Excellent though it could have been for sales, the UK's Food
Standards Agency will not be recommending omega-3 and vitamin and
mineral supplements for all school children as a result of a review
of studies investigating the effect...
Unless the UK supplements industry makes an effort to add advisory
statements to high dose vitamins and minerals, it may jeopardise
efforts to have the EU Commission adopt the proposed two-tier
structure for maximum levels legislation,...
Nutrition has been identified as one of the six priorities of new
EFSA executive director Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, as Europe
prepares for forthcoming legislation on health claims and
fortification that the agency looks likely to...
The food regulator for Australia and New Zealand is calling for
public comment on a proposal that would require all bread-making
flour to be fortified with the B vitamin folic acid.
The obesity issue is not going to solve itself, concluded
participants in a CIAA debate this month who advocated an EU-wide
approach to tackling the problem, with the food and drink industry
forming part of the solution.
The UK's Advertising Standards Agency seems to be tightening its
grip on health claims, with Unilever reportedly told to change
adverts for Flora pro.activ to remove claims that it can help keep
blood vessels healthy as well...
British charity, the National Heart Foundation, has announced it is
withdrawing its action to sue the communications watchdog Ofcom
after the regulator said it would welcome consultation of the
proposals of food advertising to children.
Dairy Crest has criticised Britain's advert watchdog for telling
the company to drop claims that its omega-3 milk could improve
children's ability to learn.
In the US, the role of court action in defining limits not set by
regulators is generating a flood of costly court cases for the food
industry: much unnecessary, and all damaging.
The UK's Food Standards Agency is conducting a review of foods and
supplements that have been reported to help improve children's
performance and behaviour in school. If its findings are positive,
it could prove a further...
Europe is gearing up to do battle over maximum levels of vitamins
and minerals in foods and supplements, according to an industry
lobbyist following the European Commission's publication of a
discussion document detailing key...
World trade discussions and communicating the health benefits of
dairy were the two main topics for discussion in a meeting between
the European Dairy Association and European Commission last week.
Proposed changes to the EU's regulation on novel foods would boost
product innovation in the industry, and make cross-border trading
easier, the European Commission says in a consultative document.
The road to fortification of bakery products with folate in the UK
looks less clear as the FSA's Scientific Advisory requested more
time to review evidence on dosage, despite a positive preliminary
report last month.
Following plans in Europe to harmonise health claims in food
labelling, experts at Eversheds law firm claim any new rules will
have to overcome historical scepticism to be truly effective.
Cereals and snacks are at the cutting edge of the healthy eating
debate, as highlighted by this week's European Parliament Plenary
vote and a high-level industry conference on meeting consumer
demands.
Legislation to harmonise vitamin and mineral fortification levels
across EU member states looks set to be adopted within weeks,
following this week's favourable vote by the European Parliament.
Europeans are eating worse now than 45 years ago, but agriculture
and the right farming policies can promote healthy diets, according
to FAO economist Josef Schmidhuber.
European Parliament voted through a compromise to the controversial
Health and Nutrition Claims Regulation yesterday, following frantic
behind-the-scenes negotiations to reach a compromise and avoid
conciliation with the Council.
The EU's legislators yesterday came up with a compromise deal on
nutritional claims, further watering down requirements originally
proposed by the European Commission, according to a newspaper
report.
The makers of the Red Bull energy drink will continue lobbying the
Turkish government, after being forced to reformulate to meet the
country's ban on high caffeine energy drinks.
The withdrawal of supplements containing saw palmetto from the
Danish market is due to a 2002 evaluation that expressed concerns
about the effect the botanical has on hormones,
NutraIngredients.com has learned.
Boots has become the second UK company to withdraw fish oil
supplements from the market due to excessive dioxin levels in less
than a month, but companies and the authorities reassure consumers
that the products pose no threat to...
The Food Standards Agency will tomorrow recommend mandatory folic
acid fortification of bread in the UK, in an effort to reduce the
incidence of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects (NTDs).
The European Breakfast Cereal Association (CEEREAL) has hailed two
important pieces of European food legislation as "broadly positive'
for the future of the industry.
A long-standing spat about nutritional food labelling between the
food industry, the European parliament and the Environment
Committee trundles on even though two major compromises have been
laid on the table.
Food companies are largely unaware of regulatory hurdles to placing
a new product on the market, according to the Food Safety Authority
of Ireland (FSAI), which has this week published a leaflet on
appropriate labelling for functional...
Food poverty is a problem of famine-like proportions in Ireland,
Labour spokesperson on agriculture and food Dr Mary Upton has
warned, and there is a pressing need for a programme to help groups
most at risk from poor health through...
