Supplements

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.

During the 5.5 year study period, 8.7% subjects discontinued, 5.1% initiated and 1.7% continued food supplement use. ©iStock

Why is food supplement use declining?

By Will Chu

Food supplement use appears to be waning, says a study speculating that unmet expectations could be the main reason for users giving up on the pills. 

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.

©iStock/Bet_Noire

Sabinsa sues former employee for data theft

By Shane Starling

Multinational botanicals giant Sabinsa is suing a former employee and the MD of the firm with whom he allegedly shared stolen customer lists, technical and other data.

Between 2007 and 2013, the UK got €3.4bn more back from the EU in science funding than it was putting in. So what does this mean for UK science post Brexit? ©iStock/shironosov

Filling a €3.4bn deficit: UK research post Brexit

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The European Commission has said it is business as usual for UK researcher’s access to EU funding until official Brexit moves are made. Yet concerns persist as reports emerge of Brits already being dropped from EU projects and as long-term plans to plug...

Photo: iStock/itakdalee

Review looks at creatine’s untapped potential beyond sports nutrition

By Adi Menayang

Creatine is a well-known sport supplement ingredient that is starting to creep into mainstream sports nutrition applications as well. Researchers in Nebraska dug deeper into existing preliminary studies to explore creatine’s potential beyond the musculoskeletal...

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.

BASF was one of the 35 multinationals that benefited from the state-sanctioned tax scheme that saw an overall €700 million in taxes go unpaid. ©iStock/Piotr Adamowicz

Update on ‘illegal’ Belgian tax row following flood of court cases

BASF joins multinationals challenging Commission's 'illegal' tax ruling

By Annie Harrison-Dunn

German chemical giant BASF has joined the seven companies and the Belgian government taking legal action against the European Commission for its ruling that a generous Belgian tax scheme was illegal.

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. 

Bad Science author Dr Ben Goldacre at the IFT show

Is food marketing awash with bad science? If so, who is to blame?

Dr Ben Goldacre: ‘Does this food cause or prevent cancer? Honestly, there's no need for any more stories like that, they have almost no value’

By Elaine Watson

There was plenty of handwringing at the IFT show this year about the lack of scientific literacy characterizing the debate around food and farming, backed up by scores of press clippings about ‘franken-foods.’ But is the media solely to blame, and what’s...

'...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.

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