UK food authorities have told the government to push for national
exceptions to permitted levels of vitamins and minerals under the
new European food supplements law.
Irish authorities are proposing new labeling for glucosamine
supplements in dosages of 1500mg or more to warn consumers that the
safety intake above this level has not been assessed.
The UK's Food Standards Agency said yesterday that people at risk
of osteoporosis should avoid taking supplements containing vitamin
A, including fish liver oils.
Europe's food risk assessment body has issued its opinion on
nutrition claims for products containing omega-3 fatty acids, which
will be used in forthcoming laws on nutrition and health claims.
The UK marketer of Shreddies breakfast cereal can continue to make
claims that the product helps boost children's concentration in
school but it must make their evidence clearer to viewers of their
ad, said authorities last week.
All vending machines are now banned from schools across France in
an attempt to tackle child obesity fears, but the move remains
controversial amid industry accusations of heavy-handedness.
Unlicensed ayurvedic herbal remedies containing dangerously high
levels of heavy metals may be available on the UK market, warns the
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHPRA).
Nutritional oils maker Martek Biosciences has held off another
challenge to the intellectual property on its key product, the
omega-3 fatty acid DHA, although it is still locked up in further
court cases to protect patent rights.
Australia's food regulator, one of the toughest on fortification,
looks set to open up the market for calcium and vitamin-enriched
cereal beverages, and is also looking at sterols in juices,
writes Dominique Patton.
Food officials in the UK have developed a model that ranks the
health status of foods according to the sum of their nutrients,
reports Dominique Patton.
The UK's food authority today revealed plans to introduce targets
for the nutrient content of some manufactured foods used in school
meals, in a bid to reduce obesity levels in British children.
Measures to slow age-related disease and improve the quality of the
elderly must be investigated by government, said a UK report
yesterday, underlining the need for attention to growing numbers of
older people, reports Dominique Patton.
UK trade officers and a charity are calling on industry to include
labelling about the risks of vitamin A to pregnant women on all
multivitamin supplements, writes Dominique Patton.
The court ruling on the European food supplements directive has
resulted in a win-win situation for industry, says one of the
groups that took the Commission to court over the laws, reports
Dominique Patton.
More than 500 dossiers of information on supplement ingredients
have been submitted to the UK's food authority, giving the products
derogation from the EU supplement directive that enters into force
in less than three weeks time,...
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...
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...
The Codex Commission, a body that sets global guidelines on food,
will discuss on Monday whether to endorse a draft standard on
ginseng that effectively recognizes the herbal's status as a food
rather than drug, writes Dominique...
The UK-based lobby group the Alliance for Natural Health said today
that it has commissioned independent experts to develop a new
approach to regulating food supplements to replace that proposed by
the 2002 European directive, already...
Food safety for Chinese milk powders hits the headlines again as
authorities detect excessive iodine content in another Nestle baby
milk powder, according to Chinese news reports.
British doctors called yesterday for a ban on unhealthy food and
drinks in vending machines and on junk food advertising and
sponsorship to help slow the alarming weight gain in children,
writes Dominique Patton.
Ireland's food authority has launched the first major public
consultation of its kind to inform new laws on fortifying food with
folic acid, writes Dominique Patton.
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 UK's food authority said this week that it will provide up to
£20,000 (€30,000) to pay for external scientists to produce more
dossiers for supplement ingredients not currently on the European
directive's positive list,...
A European regulation on food enzymes, which would demand dossiers
of safety and technical information on each enzyme prior to their
approval on the market, could be published by the Commission by the
end of the year, reports Dominique...
The tomato-derived ingredient lycopene is safe for use in a range
of foods including yoghurts, cheese, bread and cereal bars, says an
expert panel in the UK.
European governments agreed on Friday to stick closely to the
original version of the proposed health claims law, confirming the
battle ahead for pro-industry MEPs seeking major amendments,
writes Dominique Patton.
Irradiated herbal supplements, not permitted in the EU, are still
being sold in Ireland, says the country's food safety authority,
despite attempts to increase compliance last year.
Nestle has launched an investigation into its milk products, after
a type of baby powder sold in Chinese supermarkets failed to meet
national standards over iodine content, reports Claire
Johnston.
Supplements of the herbal Coleus forskohlii, increasingly
taken for weight management, have been linked to four cases of
acute poisoning in Italy, reports Dominique Patton.
Health and beauty products were responsible for more breaches of
the UK's advertising code than any other sector during a six-month
period last year, writes Dominique Patton, although
compliance in all industries is generally...
The European Parliament voted yesterday to radically modify the
proposed regulation on nutrition and health claims so that food
companies do not need to gain prior authorization for claims, nor
subject their healtlh products to nutrient...
Proposals to create a list of about 100 vitamins and mineral
substances that may be added to foods are being debated in the
European Parliament today, part of the long process of harmonising
food legislation in the bloc, reports Ahmed...
Almost two thirds of people believe that food manufacturers should
not be allowed to make a low-fat claim on foods if they are also
high in sugar, according to a survey carried out by the UK consumer
campaign group Which!
Australian beverage makers will be able to add defined amounts of
vitamins and minerals to mainstream products under regulatory
changes being proposed by the food authorities, writes Dominique
Patton.
Ireland is the latest European state to call for new guidelines on
food labelling and a ban on vending machines in schools in order to
slow down the growing rise in obesity.
A leading probiotic brand in the UK has been told it does not have
enough evidence to advertise the product's benefits for upset
stomachs experienced during menstruation.
D-alpha-tocopheryl acid succinate (TAS) can be safely used as a
source of tocopherol in foods for particular nutritional purposes
(PARNUTS), foods intended for the general population and food
supplements, a panel of European experts...
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is to consider putting caffeine
tablets back on the banned substance list after several Australian
athletes, including the national rugby union captain, George
Gregan, admitted to taking them.
A health claim for the prebiotic effect of inulin will be published
by the French food safety authority tomorrow, giving food
manufacturers in this market the go-ahead to promote the health
benefits of inulin-containing foods, reports...
The UK's presidency of the European Union in July gives it a unique
position to influence the outcome of Europe's food supplements
directive, due to take effect in August but subject to a rewrite if
a European court decision...
The future of hoodia supplements in Europe has been thrown into
doubt by a recent product recall in the Netherlands, alerting all
member states to the herbal's questionable regulatory status,
reports Dominique Patton.
Functional food makers need to take a critical look at the level of
substantiation behind the health claims they are using to guarantee
their survival under a new European regulation, reports
Dominique Patton.
More than a quarter of China's health supplements are on sale
illegally and contain false claims on their packaging, found a
survey released last week.
Allegations that Australia's booming fruit juice industry is
misleading consumers by exaggerating health claims will be
investigated by the country's competition watchdog, as the juice
world looks on, reports Chris Mercer.