NutraIngredients-USA Global Round-up: The EU health claims conundrum, personalized nutrition, & novel probiotics

29-Oct-2018 - Last updated on 29-Oct-2018 at 13:16 GMT

It’s a global industry and there’s a lot happening. We know it’s not always easy keeping up with everything that’s happening around the world that could impact the US dietary supplements industry. The answer? Our weekly round-up of key news from across the globe.

1. EHPM calls for reforms

The European Federation of Associations of Health Product Manufacturers (EPHM) is calling for a reform of the current health claims framework.

At the core of the issue is a lack of dialogue between industry and the European Food Safety Authority, said EHPM last week.

The group – which represents around 1,600 health-product manufacturers in 13 European countries – argued that EFSA’s refusals to discuss requirements for clinical evidence in pre-application meetings, and the lack of harmony between certain EFSA decisions and those of individual Member States show the need for reform by the European Commission.

“From when the regulation was adopted in 2006, up to now, there's been a very limited number of approvals,” Patrick Ahern, director general of EHPM, told our European edition.

“The actual number of approved claims is not really reflective of the reality, because when you consider the fact that all of the vitamins and minerals claims were approved automatically, without any clinical trials, you actually have a tiny number of claims that have been approved in the 12 years since the regulation was adopted.”

The EHPM director noted that a major reason for this is that, the requirements for a health claims dossier were not initially clear.

2. The challenge of implementing personalized nutrition into everyday life

Personalized nutrition is seen by many as the future, but companies should act now to get into the growing category, according to Dominik Burziwoda, CEO of Perfood, a German-based firm, which founded the MillionFriends program that offers personalized nutrition solutions.

“When it comes to the manufacturing side of things, operational flexibility is required in order to switch production processes to allow for the creation of such products,” he said. “If we assume that an investment cycle is usually planned to last about ten years, then food companies cannot afford to wait. They must take action now.”

He added that consumers are unsettled and they want to understand what is good for them and what isn’t. “Helping them to do this must be top of the list of priorities,” he said.

However, a “lack of trust and transparency” has dampened consumer acceptance of personalized nutrition options.

“Long-term commitment for consumers has always been one of the biggest challenges for personalized nutrition. That is one of the difficult questions for companies wanting to invest in this area,” said Joana Maricato, market research manager at New Nutrition Business.

For more on this, please click HERE.

3. Probiotic micro-shots

Australian firm Clinical Advantage is targeting the China market with its new digestive health brand, Biotik, developed in partnership with Italian probiotics specialist SOFAR.

Biotik uses the company's proprietary probiotic strain, LP-DG (Lactobacillus paracasei CNCM I-1572), and its patented technology to provide a convenient method of ingesting its supplement.

The micro-shots are similar to the Innovia micro-shots launched in the US by SOFAR Americas in 2017.

Biotik will be distributed across Australia through stockists and online platforms, as well as exported to China via its e-store on Aussie daigou platform, DaigouSales.com.

“As we expand our network, we'll move into stores and other retail outlets — potentially health food stores. That's why it's very important the brand is well supported and popular in Australia, because without that, China may not take us seriously,” Clinical Advantage GM Matthew Harris.