Consumer organisations across the European Union should expect
better representation on advisory bodies and increased rights to be
consulted, if we are to believe the words of European Commissioner
for Health and Consumer Protection,...
'Health' claims made on food labels often leave consumers confused
or unclear about the properties of the products, Britain's Food
Standards Agency reports, following research commissioned by the
agency, in the wake...
The UK Government's Department of Health is to reform its social
welfare food scheme, which targets mothers and children in
low-income families, by adding a broader range of foods such as
fruit and vegetables and cereal-based...
The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue, an organisation of European
and US consumer groups, has criticised American and European
governments for backing business interests over consumer concerns
in their trade policies.
David Byrne, the European Commissioner responsible for Health and
Consumer Protection, yesterday issued a message of support to the
Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), a forum of US and EU
organisations, ahead of its forthcoming...
Dietary supplements containing the herb ephedra are associated with
more reports of death, heart attack, hypertension, stroke, and
seizure than all other dietary supplements combined, according to
Dr Sidney Wolfe, director of Public...
The European Parliament this week rejected a Commission proposal to
extend pharmaceutical powers to cover food supplements. The
proposal was part of a series of amendments to the
'all-encompassing' and outdated 1965 medicines...
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has upheld two complaints
against a leading British tea company for making misleading claims
about the health benefits of tea. The incident highlights the
problematic area of advertising...
Canada's Federal Court last week fined four leading vitamin
companies C$3.875 million (€2.5m) for their role in a price-fixing
conspiracy. Degussa, Lonza and Nepera and Reilly Industries of the
United States were all charged...
Lonza Ltd and Lonza Inc, both subsidiaries of Swiss chemicals
company Lonza Group, have filed a series of patent infringement
lawsuits against supplement companies Carnitech, Barrington,
Stauber and Axel Chemical in the US.
The US Food and Drug Administration said yesterday it had ordered
the seizure of hundreds of bottles of a dietary supplement that the
agency said falsely claimed to treat autism.
Cognis Nutrition and Health and Kemin Foods have finally reached an
agreement in court over the marketing and promotional issues for
lutein and lutein esters products.Specific terms of the agreement
are to remain confidential between...
The UK's Food Standards Agency is advising people not to eat
calabash chalk, a traditional remedy for morning sickness, because
samples tested have revealed high levels of lead. The Agency is
also taking immediate action to remove...
Results from a European Commission report on the use and labelling
of food irradiation finds that 42 per cent of certain dietary
supplements in the UK have been illegally treated with the
technology.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition last week sent a letter to
Senator Durbin and other legislators recommending several actions
be taken to protect the safety and reliability of
ephedra-containing dietary supplements.
Britain's Food Standards Agency said this week that its Committee
on Toxicity is consulting on a draft report that looks at the
implications of dietary phytoestrogens - chemicals naturally
produced by some edible plants, notably...
US supplement manufacturer Weider Nutrition is the fourth company
to join the USP Dietary Supplement Verification Program. Weider
will initially submit its Schiff brand of Move Free joint care
products for the DSVP certification process.
The National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA), a US-based trade
body, is the latest industry organistion to issue a statement
following this week's Senate hearing on ephedra in Washington. The
group reacted to Senator Durbin's...
US trade body the Council for Responsible Nutrition said this week
that its Omega-3 Working Group has ratified a voluntary monograph
intended to raise the bar for the quality of long chain Omega-3 EPA
and DHA products marketed in...
The Ephedra Education Council (EEC) has responded to yesterday's
news that as many as one third of the US population now suffers
from obesity with a statement promoting the safety and efficacy of
the dietary supplement ephedra.
The weight-loss services provider Weight Watchers International is
suing Florida-based supplement company USA Prescriptions for
placing unauthorised pop-up ads for diet drugs on the
WeightWatchers website.
Speaking at the annual CRN conference yesterday, president John
Cordaro called upon the dietary supplement industry to promote
growth "by restoring consumer confidence in using dietary
supplements."
The US Food and Drug Administration announced this week that it has
issued a 'cyber letter' to the operator of an Internet website that
was selling Yellow Jackets, an herbal product, as an alternative to
illicit street drugs.
Following the FTC's recent report on false claims made by weight
loss products, the Strategic Research Institute in New York is
holding a forum for weight loss marketers to learn about the latest
findings, investigations, guidelines...
The IADSA Asian conference on food supplement regulations held in
Bangkok, Thailand last week produced a clear recognition of the
need for a common approach to regulations in the region and a
demand for increased collaboration and...
A White House health policy adviser on the American President's
Council of Economic Advisers has been chosen to fill the role,
empty since January 2001, of commissioner for the US Food and Drug
Administration.
Coming after recent research highlighted the risks of HRT, the
American Botanical Council is to produce a scientific review of
black cohosh, a herb used by many women to treat menopause
symptoms.
The US Federal Trade Commission last week released a report
claiming that the false and misleading advertising claims made
about weight-loss products have increased over the last decade.
Lonza, the Swiss-based pharmaceuticals company, has said that the
US Food and Drug Administration has allowed the sale of PepZin GI,
the subject of a new dietary ingredient submission to the federal
agency.
New legislation proposed earlier this month by the authorities in
California designed to regulate the sale and labelling of ephedra
products had been criticised for being too restrictive, but
amendments to the rules have now been...
The US Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Committee on the Framework for
Evaluating the Safety of Dietary Supplements has released its first
draft prototype monograph.
An Australian professor urged consumers to take dietary supplements
with caution today after a study revealed the size of the growing
alternative medicine market in Australia.
A new report by the American Obesity Association which claims that
54 per cent of US military personnel are overweight and a further
6.2 per cent are obese has prompted the Ephedra Education Council
there to offer to educate the military...
The California legislature has passed two bills concerning the sale
and labelling of dietary supplements containing ephedra or steroid
hormone precursors
Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a statement
rejecting claims by an American organisation that the mycoprotein
Quorn is unsafe. The organisation says that it should remain on
sale.
The US Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition has released information on its new system for
tracking adverse event reports on foods, cosmetics and dietary
supplements.
A report by America's Institute of Medicine of the National Academy
of Sciences which claims that there is no known safe intake amount
of trans fatty acids in the diet could lead to new food labelling
guidelines in the US.
An independent committee of experts set up to advise Britain's Food
Standards Agency yesterday issued a consultation document on the
maximum levels of vitamins and minerals that are safe to consume.
The supplement industry said...
In anticipation of final approval by the European Parliament of the
proposed Directive relating to food supplements, the European Union
Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) has issued its first opinions
regarding the tolerable upper...
A US subsidiary of German health ingredients business Degussa
BioActives said it has filed an order for prompt action on a case
it brought earlier this year against sports nutrition company
Muscle Marketing USA.
Japanese health ministry officials are launching a series of
measures to prevent further health scares after the problems caused
by dieting aids imported from China.
Canada's Health Food Association (CHFA) has called the national ban
on the sale of kava products 'completely unacceptable', and urged
the health department to follow the cautionary labelling practice
of the US.
Canada's national health department last week issued a stop-sale
order on all products containing the herb kava after a safety
assessment concluded there is insufficient evidence to support
their safe use.
A medical expert has said that the recent calls to review the
herbal supplement ephedra are "unfounded". Dr Steven Karch claimed
that the health reports logged by Metabolife contain 'insubstantial
information'.
Internet websites promoting 'alternative' cures for cancer can
seriously harm patients who follow their advice, according to an
editorial published in the British Journal of Cancer this
week. And some are in fact dangerous,...
A medical investigation of chronic lead poisoning in a woman, who
gave birth at an Adelaide hospital in Australia, has found it was
caused by imported herbal tablets.
Nutritional supplement maker Metabolife has issued a statement
responding to calls for an investigation into reports of
side-effects caused by its ephedra products.
The US Food and Drug Administration calls for a criminal
investigation into Metabolife over the safety of some of the
company's ephedra-based diet products.
