
Innovation in functional foods is closely linked to the emergence of new ingredients, many of which are already successfully used in the dietary supplement market. We list the latest GRAS and novel foods approvals, which open up an ingredient’s use in the food and beverage market.
24-May-2012 - NuMe Health - the New Orleans-based firm behind NM504, a novel ‘cobiotic’ ingredient targeting prediabetics - has secured a $1.5m cash injection to support plans to commercialize it.
04-May-2012 - The law firm responsible for the flurry of class action lawsuits against 10 firms named by the FDA in its DMAA crackdown last week has now targeted four other firms selling products containing the stimulant.
03-May-2012 - They’ve had the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads for months. So when 10 firms selling DMAA supplements were finally told to put up or shut up by the FDA last week, it looked like the game might finally be up for the controversial stimulant.
02-May-2012 - In warning letters sent as part of its recent crackdown on DMAA , the FDA says “synthetically produced DMAA is not a dietary ingredient and, therefore, is not eligible to be used as an active ingredient in a dietary supplement”.
01-May-2012 - UPDATED May 3 - All 10 recipients of FDA warning letters over supplements containing DMAA (1,3-Dimethylamylamine) have now been targeted in a new wave of class action lawsuits in California alleging their products contain DMAA in a synthetic form that is “illegal and dangerous”.
26-Apr-2012 - Horphag Research has parted company with the executives it brought in to run its new functional foods and beverages division Horphag Research Nutrition (HRN) and discontinued Salty-R, the first product to emerge from it.
25-Apr-2012 - Florida-based ATM Metabolics is in advanced negotiations with some of the biggest food and beverage brands in the US and Europe about incorporating Emulin - the insulin-mimicking active ingredient in GNC’s top-selling glucose control supplement GC7X - into packaged foods and drinks.
20-Apr-2012 - Energy drinks and foods, eye health supplements and skin creams are just some of the products likely to emerge from an LA-based firm on a mission to turn L-Ergothioneine – an antioxidant it claims has “unparalleled” benefits – into a household name.
13-Apr-2012 - If high-profile ingredients such as baobab and Moringa oleifera really take off in the next couple of years, Africa could finally start to get the attention it deserves as a source of top-flight nutraceuticals, according to one supplier.
13-Apr-2012 - A nutrient powerhouse to rival baobab, Moringa oleifera is starting to attract growing interest in the US dietary supplement and food industry, with a segment due to air on Dr Oz tonight predicted to prompt a surge in demand.
08-Mar-2012 - Africa has a wealth of indigenous plant species, but has not been as successful as India and China at commercializing them as nutraceuticals, one South African firm trying to spread the word about the continent’s natural ingredients tells Elaine Watson
08-Mar-2012 - The FDA’s warning letter to the maker of melatonin-laced Slowtivate Relaxation Drink has reignited the debate over the legal line between liquid dietary supplements and conventional beverages - and should make some firms very nervous - say lawyers.
23-Feb-2012 - Norwegian firm Calanus AS has applied to the UK Food Standards Agency for European Union novel foods approval to market an omega-3 oil derived from the miniature North Atlantic Ocean shrimp, Calanus finmarchicus.
22-Feb-2012 - GNC, Cellucor Sports Nutrition and others have been accused of misleading consumers over the source, regulatory status and safety of the controversial stimulant DMAA (1,3 Dimethylamylamine) in a new class action lawsuit filed in California.
21-Feb-2012 - Experts in helping firms navigate the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) process say the American Heart Association (AHA) made some valid points in its recent attack on GRAS, but argue the system is actually working pretty well.
16-Feb-2012 - There are serious weaknesses in the system that allows firms to self-affirm the safety of foods without the approval or knowledge of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
15-Feb-2012 - Martek’s new algal EPA/DHA blend - the ‘fishless fish oil’ - is gaining momentum in the market with recent launches including Schiff’s MegaRed Plant-Omega supplements and Darigold Omega-3 2% milk.
10-Jan-2012 - The United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) says it agrees with the AHPA that supplement makers should not label the stimulant DMAA (1,3-Dimethylamylamine) as geranium oil or as any part of the geranium plant.
09-Jan-2012 - Trade in sports products containing the controversial stimulant DMAA (methylhexaneamine/1,3-dimethylamylamine) is illegal in the European Union, and should be brought to an immediate halt by EU and member state authorities, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) UK.
06-Jan-2012 - GNC has weighed into the debate over the stimulant DMAA (1,3-Dimethylamylamine) following the recall of DMAA-containing products from stores on military bases while the Department of Defense conducts a probe into its safety.
22-Dec-2011 - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has weighed into the debate over the stimulant DMAA (1,3-Dimethylamylamine, also known as methylhexaneamine or MHA), which has garnered more bad press in recent weeks.
22-Dec-2011 - Those hoping the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing for a major climb down on its draft guidance on new dietary ingredients (NDIs) will draw little comfort from comments made by the agency's supplements chief yesterday.
21-Dec-2011 - An authoritative new guide to 23+solvents used in the production of botanical extracts for dietary ingredients could help inform the debate on ‘chemical alteration’ at the heart of the FDA’s draft guidance on new dietary ingredients (NDIs), says the American Botanical Council (ABC).
28-Nov-2011 - Jarrow Formulas is still waiting for a “substantive response” from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted more than two months ago about the FDA’s draft guidance on New Dietary Ingredients (NDIs).
22-Aug-2011 - The chief architect of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) does not believe the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) draft guidance on new dietary ingredients (NDIs) is consistent with the legislation he co-authored, his office has confirmed.