Last week’s big news included the U.S. Federal Trade Commission warning companies about “Made in USA” product claims, fibermaxxing and personalized fiber responses, and how Australia nutraceutical manufacturers are benefiting from the ongoing certainty around US-China trade.
FTC warns companies about ‘Made in USA’ compliance requirements
The Federal Trade Commission sent four warning letters this week to companies that claim their products are “Made in USA” and sent letters to Amazon and Walmart explaining how the commission’s requirements apply to online marketplaces.
The warning letters explain that the FTC Act and the Made in USA Labeling Rule require that products advertised as “Made in the USA” must be “all or virtually all” made in the United States. No dietary supplement companies were included in the four warning letters, but the requirements are still applicable to manufacturers and marketers of dietary supplements.
Christine Delorme, an attorney in the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices, explained that the “Made in USA” rule is subject to civil penalties.
“There’s a difference between made in the USA and assembled in the USA, or made in the USA with imported ingredients,” she said. “Made in the USA means all or a substantial all of everything that goes into your product—that includes the ingredients, if you import all your ingredients from abroad.
“I realize that for dietary supplement manufacturers, there are going to be a lot of instances where they’re very constrained on where they can get their ingredients. There are certain plants and botanicals that it’s just not feasible to source them in the United States, but if you’re importing all your ingredients, generally speaking, for something like a dietary supplement, I don’t think you are going to be able to make an unqualified Made in the USA claim, but, again, you can always qualify it.”
Myota advances personalized fiber research as ‘fibermaxxing’ continues to trend
A new study from U.K.-based prebiotic fiber supplement brand Myota identified meal-responsive inflammatory cytokine biomarkers and analyzed the pharmacokinetics of plasma short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) after eating, with and without a personalized butyrate-promoting prebiotic fiber.
The study, published in journal Cytokine, highlighted just how different individual responses to fiber can be and why the trend might be an oversimplification.
“This research adds weight to the idea that we all have incredibly unique responses to food and more than we initially thought,” Cailin Hall, PhD, head of research at Myota and co-author of the study, told NutraIngredients.
“I’d love to see future personalized nutrition programs evolve to reflect that complexity. There will always be a place for generic population-level dietary guidelines, but in the same breath, we’re not all the same person, so why should our dietary advice be?”
Dr. Hall said the company has seen “huge surge in interest and knowledge about prebiotic fiber”, as TikTok users look to maximize fiber intake. The trend is called ‘fibermaxxing’.
“There’s a growing awareness that gut health is central to almost all areas of health and that prebiotic fiber plays a key role in that,” she said. “People are starting to realize it’s not just about regularity; fiber supports immune function, inflammation, blood glucose and insulin control, and even mood, cognition and stress. That shift in thinking is already driving demand for functional ingredients.”
Australia manufacturing gets a boost from US-China trade uncertainty
The ongoing US-China trade war has given the Australia nutraceutical manufacturing sector a boost, as companies look to shift their operations to regions with safe and quality production capabilities, alongside stable trade policies.
“We are seeing enormous opportunity at the moment following the announcements of tariffs from America,” John O’Doherty, CEO at Complementary Medicines Australia (CMA), told NutraIngredients.
“In fact, immediately after the announcement earlier this year, we saw a spike in demand from Chinese companies approaching Australian companies, not just for Australian products and brands, but also for Australian manufacturing.
“There are a number of Australian manufacturers that have been approached by Chinese companies that are looking to move their manufacturing from America to Australia in order to avoid some of those tariffs.”
