The Food and Drug Administration has rejected suggestions that its enforcement action against companies which make false H1N1 claims for their health supplements relies too heavily on warning letters and fails to deter other companies from similar fraud.
The Food and Drug Administration’s recently issued draft guidance on the difference between liquid supplements and beverages is confusing and may create a slippery slope of inappropriate criteria and mis-categorized products, according to the Council...
Market researcher Nielsen notes omega-3 products have bucked the recession to record 42 percent growth in 2009, as consumer interest in healthy eating grows and product prices drop.
An American Dietetic Association (ADA) survey has found 99 percent of people consider most of the nutrition information they find on the internet to be trustworthy, albeit narrowed down to two or three websites.
The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD) has told a CoQ10 supplements manufacturer to alter its marketing including a claim that the supplement in question could be 600 percent more effective than standard powders.
The parties suing the FDA over its qualified health claims system have filed opposition to the FDA’s own opposition to their suit that accuses the regulator of health claim censorship and distortion of scientific data.
In a world with a chronic ‘globesity’ problem spreading beyond western shores to places like India and China, products that promise to help individuals manage their weight via calorie control, fat burning, satiety, or some other mechanism, enjoy rampant...
The recent federal district court ruling that has ordered a company to pay $2m to the Federal Trade Commisssion (FTC) for making misleading weight loss claims will act as “road map” in the sector, according to a veteran claims attorney.
The Alliance for Natural Health says a recent missive sent to the FDA by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) calling for the abolishment of structure-function and qualified health claims, would favor large companies and decimate the natural...
The Kellogg Company has settled a dispute with the Oregon Department of Justice and Attorney General John Kroger over immunity claims it was making for its breakfast cereal, Rice Krispies.
Pan-European better nutrition advocate, the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), has merged with the American Association for Health Freedom (AAHF) to form the Alliance for Natural Health International.
A 1983 court case that distinguished between a drug and a food on the grounds of taste, aroma or nutritive value, is informing recently issued FDA advice on the difference between liquid beverages and dietary supplements, according to an industry figure.
Dispatches from the NI Health Claims 2010 conference
Making claims based on non-conclusive but still substantial science is a "possible avenue" since denying a 'maybe' claim may challenge free speech rights, says a UK lawyer.
Dispatches from the NI Health Claims 2010 conference
US attorney Jonathan Emord draws parallels between his experiences in the US challenging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the current health claims situation in Europe on the basis of free speech.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has proposed a makeover for nutrition labeling, including more emphasis on calories, added sugars, saturated and trans fats, and sodium.
For a fruit that has had more science conducted on it than most, it is surprising to some that France remains the only country to have approved a long-standing cranberry health claim.
General Mills has responded to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) letter asking for more evidence to support a revised health claim regarding the impact of Cheerios on cholesterol levels.
The Kellogg Company has pulled immunity claims from its popular antioxidant-fortified Rice Krispies range, rather bizarrely citing swine flu links as the principal reason.
There’s gold to be found in them health claims mountains, but prospectors from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) must be happy with the little chunks that add up to a lot, and stop searching for nuggets the size of your fist.
Coca-Cola has defended a television advert for a DHA-fortified superjuice, saying the advert used humor to imply general brain benefits that were construed as being more specifically memory-boosting by the voluntary advertising watchdog.
Austrian-based microencapsulation specialist, GAT Food Essentials, is supplying latin America’s largest dairy with an omega-3 form that is allowing the dairy to offer a difficult to achieve, non-chilled milk containing both iron and the healthy lipid.
In the final part of our series on healthy chocolate, NutraIngredients scans the regulatory landscape to see how the movement towards healthy cocoa offerings is being affected by the rules in some of the lands they are proliferating in.
The legal firm behind two actions that challenge the US qualified health claims system has asked a District of Columbia District Court to issue a summary judgment against the FDA over its selenium claims.
Companies will need to disclose if they have sponsored a study discussed in an advertisement for their product under new guidance issued yesterday by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The legal firm that mounted the class action against Dannon that resulted in a $35m out-of-court settlement, is one of several law firms that have mounted a similar action against another probiotic product, this time General Mills’ Yo-Plus.
Reaction to Dannon’s $35m out-of-court probiotic settlement has been varied – from those accusing the company of scientific and marketing negligence to staunch defense of the company’s right to market products even when the science is not conclusive.
Dannon’s out-of-court settlement of the $300m class action mounted against it the beginning of last year contains some interesting clauses such as the fact Dannon has only committed to altering its on-pack immunity marketing for three years.
Dannon is removing the word “immunity” from its DanActive probiotic drink on-package marketing after concluding an out-of-court settlement last week over alleged misleading probiotic claims.
The US FDA is being sued over its health claims regime – actions that are unlikely to succeed according to most pundits – but they raise serious questions about healthy food messaging and free speech that are being felt globally.
Manufacturers of functional foods and supplements risk losing time, money and brand integrity if they don’t get their marketing story straight. Frost & Sullivan takes a look at the dangers of crossing into the realm of drugs as part of a NutraIngredients...
Manufacturers of functional foods need to focus innovation on increasing adoption by current users, while also drawing new consumers to the category, reveals Mintel as part of a special NutraIngredients series canvassing analyst insight on the market.
Digestive health is the primary focus of food products marketed around the world for an added health benefit – except in the United States, reveal new market figures.
A US District Court has ruled against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and in favor of a supplements firm, in a landmark case that found FTC’s criticism of the company’s advertising was simply a “difference of opinion”.
The FDA is being sued for the third time in three weeks, this time over its “censorship” of 13 antioxidant qualified health claims, which the attorney mounting the case says amounts to “contempt of federal court orders” dating from 1999.
The use of health claims on food products in Canada could be set for a significant revamp, as the nation’s regulatory body reviews its approach. NutraIngredients-USA.com examines areas of potential amendment and breaks down the current system in anticipation...
A review of Canada’s regulations governing food and natural health products has again highlighted the “confusion and uncertainty” generated by the system, which it says could be restricting the market potential of foods with health benefits.
A court action has been lodged today which challenges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) qualified health claims system via five disputed selenium health claims.
Three bills have been introduced to Congress by Republican House of Representatives member, Ron Paul, that seek to limit how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforce health claims and police health information.
The Food and Drug Administration has sent a warning letter to a Minnesota-based supplements manufacturer for making misleading claims that its probiotic supplements could prevent or treat human swine flu (H1N1).
A new report that calls for fewer restrictions on the use of health claims in Canada has been criticized as being “superficial” and not grasping the intricacies of the Canadian and US food legislative frameworks.
Not again! As if industry is not struggling enough with the severity of the European Food Safety Authority’s nutrition and health claims rulings so far, the situation has not been helped by the kind of articles that appeared in the UK press today and...
Bayer Healthcare could face a lawsuit in the United States for advertising that its One A Day vitamins could reduce prostate cancer due to their selenium content.
The US dietary supplement industry is facing a massive media onslaught after recent recalls of harmful products have placed the sector and the law that regulates it under the spotlight.
General Mills has been told to change the marketing of its popular Cheerios whole grain cereal, as the health claims it currently uses classify it as an unapproved drug.
How will the new health claims system in Europe impact the state of play in the North American market? Lorraine Heller speaks to a leading international ingredients supplier about the potential marketing and regulatory implications.
Lorraine Heller met with Randy Dennin, chairman of the Chinese branch of US trade group Natural Products Association (NPA), at Supply Side East and asked him about regulatory and other challenges on the Sino peninsula.