Dosage forms & delivery formats

The UK medicines regulator is upping the ante against illegal weight loss products Image: MHRA

2000 websites shut down in 2015

UK launches campaign against fake weight loss pills

By Shane Starling

The UK medicines agency is warning people – especially young women – off buying weight loss pills and supplements, most of which it says are unlicensed and potentially dangerous to health.

Researchers claim the global supply of EPA and DHA could be upped by 25% or even doubled through by-product use. ©iStock/PhotoShoppin

Better by-product use could increase EPA-DHA supply by 25%

Mapping the future supply of fish oil

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

Researchers from the University of Stirling have used FAO data to map the future use of fishery by-products in the production of marine ingredients like omega-3. They found an overall increasing trend in the amount of fishmeal and fish oil being obtained...

After a one-year weight maintenance phase, the diet resulted in 6% lower body weight, 10% total body fat and 17% lower abdominal fat. ©iStock.com/CharlieAJA

Protein pacing helps weight loss and maintenance: Study

By Eliot Beer

Protein pacing and calorie restriction can result in significant short-term fat loss, and compared to a 'heart-healthy' low cholesterol diet can significantly improve longer term weight management, a study suggests.

'We have spent a while on it - but it’s important to get this right.' ©iStock/Brian Balster

ESSNA set to strike on protein spiking

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance (ESSNA) will in weeks finalise its guidance on so-called ‘protein spiking’ - the controversial practice of falsifying product protein content via nitrogen manipulation.

Results could provide insights into the care of vulnerable, premature infants that cannot get optimum nutrition from breast milk alone. ©iStock/Ondrooo

Breast milk may be lacking for pre-term infants: Study

By Eliot Beer

A human breast milk study opens the door for customised nutrition for premature babies, as researchers find pre-term milk contains different micronutrients for the first few weeks after birth only. 

Dr Sinéad Bleiel founded AnaBio after studies to entrap materials through encapsulation.

Spotlight on Ireland

AnaBio looks to dairy for encapsulation

By Jim Cornall

AnaBio Technologies Ltd. is an Irish company providing encapsulation and commercial contract manufacture for the stabilization of food, pharmaceutical and animal health products.

'...we suggest that arrhythmia could be a complication of ED consumption...' ©iStock

Energy drinks linked to cardiac events

By Eliot Beer

A new study of a patient with cardiac arrhythmia and bloody vomit after drinking Monster energy drinks provides new evidence the high-caffeine beverages may cause cardiac problems.

Sports supplements: Doping culprits or doping scapegoats? ©iStock

Supplement shaming wins first Olympic gold medal

By Shane STARLING

It didn’t take long for a dope-busted Olympic athlete to blame a contaminated food supplement for his infringement and sportsmen and sports bodies to jump into the fray with ‘see? you just can’t trust supplements’ missives.

Pierre Fabre Medicament claimed its DHA-enriched fish oil helped slow age-related cognitive decline in areas such as memory and executive function. ©iStock/iLexx

EFSA health claim opinion

EFSA rejects fish oil memory claim

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has thrown out a health claim for a ‘DHA-enriched fish oil’ and the reduction of age-related cognitive decline.

The novel food application was forwarded onto EFSA after member states expressed concern about the ingredient's long-term impact on blood coagulation. ©iStock/somersault18:24

‘Anti-blood clot’ fermented soybean extract safe, says EFSA

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

A fermented soybean extract that claims to help prevent blood clots is safe for use in food supplements, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded following a novel food application from a Japanese company that sparked member state concerns.

At four hours, lactic acid for native Okara was 2.45 fold higher than the control fructo-oligosaccharides. ©iStock/alffoto

Soybean by-product tipped as alternative prebiotic

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

By-product Okara, otherwise known as ‘soy pulp’ or ‘tofu dreg’, is a promising novel prebiotic, according to researchers testing the ingredient in a human gut model. 

The Commission says this is a 'time of transition' when Europe is reducing the use of animal testing thanks to major technological advances. ©iStocktiripero

Archive Article of the Week

From law to labs: EU's tide change for animal experiments

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

With mounting public pressure, the EU has experienced a tide change on the use of animal experiments in recent years. But is this in vitro political will reflected in vivo on lab floors?

'...with the same exercise you're preserving glycogen and producing much less lactic acid...' ©iStock

'this hasn't been seen before'

Ketone esters boost endurance in elite athletes: Study

By Shane STARLING

A ketone ester drink developed by an Oxford University start-up for the US Army has shown benefits to elite endurance athletes by unlocking “greater human metabolic potential.”

The advice marks a break from previous UK government guidance, which stated no additional dietary intake of vitamin D was necessary for individuals living a ‘normal lifestyle’. ©iStock

UK alters advice on vitamin D

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The UK government has advised that adults and children over the age of one should get 10 micrograms (μg) of vitamin D every day.

Immunity-focused drinking yoghurt Actimel relaunched in April with the help of a music group Stay Strong Brothers. A revamp of gut health-orriented spoonable yoghurt Activia is expected in the second half of the year.

Solid global, flat European growth for Danone in first half of 2016

Can Actimel revamp inject life into Danone’s flat European sales?

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

Danone has recorded negative overall sales figures in Europe for the first half of 2016. But the company hopes investment in the relaunch of its Activia and Actimel brands will help return it to profitable growth.

'Should this conclusion persist – the conclusion would have to be that it can’t be possible to get a health claim for probiotics,' says Probi CEO after claim rejection. ©iStock/benjaminec

'We won’t take this as the final outcome. We spent too much time, too much money.'

310th probiotic claim rejection: EFSA throws out Probi claim for iron absorption

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded there is “insufficient” evidence to claim a probiotic can help boost iron absorption – but applicant Probi says it won’t take no for an answer.

Demand for pills & powders is driving expansion at SternMaid. ©iStock

SternMaid builds second plant as outsourcing booms

By Lynda Searby

German contract manufacturer SternMaid is expanding again, citing growth in the European outsourcing market as a driver for investing in a second production plant for powdered foods and food supplements.

©iStock/DimaSobko

UK criminalises infant formula marketing offences

By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn

The UK government has introduced legislation that would make a company’s failure to fall in line with EU infant formula and baby food marketing laws a criminal offence subject to fines.

Dr Ana Rute Neves presents her work on how resveratrol modulates the cell membrane.

10TH WORLD CONGRESS ON POLYPHENOL APPLICATIONS

What’s new for an old molecule like resveratrol?

By Will Chu from Porto

Despite the plethora of studies that focus on resveratrol’s beneficial health effects, there is still not one singular mechanism of action that can be agreed upon that sufficiently explains its positive preventative effects.

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