It’s been said that the poor will ever be with us. So too, it seems, will undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients, as FDA has issued yet another warning letter to a marketer of weight loss products.
According to a new study published in the NFS Journal and funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service, eight of the 33 dietary supplements derived from Rosaceae fruits had no detectable anthocynins or were adulterated with anthocyanins from unlabelled...
Transparency has become a watchword among dietary supplement companies. Jim Emme, president of NOW Foods, said it is one of the founding principles of his company.
With the recent elevation of dietary supplement oversight from a division to its own office at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the agency should renew its focus on reducing tainted supplements, improving compliance with good manufacturing...
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has warned against MusclePharm’s pre-workout Assault Hybrid supplements after it was found they contained over double the safe upper limit for niacin.
Members of the Natural Products Association met with their senators' and representatives' offices in Washington, DC, April 13 to promote standardized GMO labeling nationwide, insurance coverage of dietary supplements, increased oversight of...
A newly updated AHP monograph on cranberry identification will set a new standard in ensuring the quality and efficacy of this botanical, said one of the paper’s co-authors.
Over half of so-called 100% natural botanical slimming supplements are adulterated with unlabelled pharmaceuticals, according to French tests of 164 products.
China’s food authorities are unable to keep up with cases of chemical and drug adulteration, according to the head of its Food and Drug Administration.
After years of hand wringing over the situation in raw material supply in which low quality ingredients find a home in the marketplace, consensus now seems to be building in the dietary supplement industry to do something about it. But at a recent industry...
The quality and consistency of dietary ingredients and supplements would improve by “universal adoption” of the USP–NF science-based public standards, says a new paper.
Transparency in the supply chain rests on reliable tests to verify the provenance of ingredients, but proving beyond doubt where an oil came from has been a problem in the omega-3s space. A new test method being brought to market by the company OmegaVeritas...
Traceability and verifiability were big topics at the GOED Exchange meeting that took place last week in the Canary Islands. These topics will be addressed in an online forum later this week hosted by NutraIngredients-USA.
The Natural Products Association said in a release that the new Article 6 of California’s Prop 65 would “limit consumer access, cost jobs, and harm the economy.”
A recently aired media report once again seemed to elevate DNA testing to magic bullet status. It’s a development that dismays Danica Harbaugh Reynaud, PhD, one of the foremost experts in the DNA testing of plants.
The American Herbal Products Association and the United Natural Products Alliance have teamed up to engage state attorneys general who as a group have become more active in regards to the dietary supplement industry.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has retracted a report it aired recently alleging spiking and missing ingredients in supplements because it was based on faulty test results.
A recent move by the Food and Drug Administration to detain products without examination from foreign firms that have failed GMP inspections is welcome step toward "draining the swamp," said United Natural Products Alliance president Loren...
More specific training for herbalists as a way to bolster professional bona fides could go a long way toward burnishing the herbal industry’s image with the medical community, though it might not mean as much to consumers, a leader educator says.
Despite an import ban on the substance, kratom-containing products continue to find their way into the country. In the latest action, the Food and Drug Administration has seized 90,000 bottles at a facility in Illinois.
Sabinsa Corp. has prevailed in yet another patent infringement suit based on its Curcumin C3 Complex ingredient. The most recent settlement is one in a series of suits the company filed to defend its patents in this red-hot sector.
A suggested change in the way USP monographs are titled could help reduce confusion about what precise botanical ingredients are being referred to when certain common names are used, experts have said.
A place ought to be found within the regulation of the dietary supplement sector for artisanal herbal companies that might struggle with some of FDA’s more labyrinthine strictures on identity testing, experts say.
Doping scandals in the sports realm have had a hangover effect for dietary supplements, one longtime industry observer asserts. In his view it has created a climate in which decision makers have more easily bought in to the narrative of a dangerously...
By Ryan Gorman, brand director, Network Nutrition-IMCD
The global natural products industry is beholden to vast quality control challenges, which are in turn amplified when it comes to herbal ingredients, given the quality management minefield this segment presents.
The actions of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have put an unprecedented pressure on the dietary supplement business, especially those companies dealing in herbal products.
As we enter the twilight days of 2015 the editors of NutraIngredients-USA become a reflective bunch. A lot of things happened this year, and here is our top 10 of most important events of the year…
The American Botanical Council has released a Laboratory Guidance Document on black cohosh in an attempt to help industry stakeholders better identify this frequently adulterated botanical.
The US Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to five companies marketing dietary supplements containing picamilon, a controversial substance that has risen to prominence in recent months.
Beefing up supply chain management has been a mantra in dietary supplement industry meetings over recent months. For that to be most effective, it needs to include a consideration of supply partners’ business practices, experts say.
The recent coordinated crackdown by federal regulators on the dietary supplement industry shined a harsh light on supply chain vulnerabilities. Finding the sort of fraudulent ingredients mentioned during Tuesday’s news conference is complicated by the...
The USPLabs case demonstrates the tools investigators and prosecutors can bring to bear when looking into the dealings of a dietary supplement company, a former prosecutor says.
Dietary supplement trade associations have universally welcomed the Department of Justice’s nationwide sweep targeting more than 100 makers and marketers of dietary supplements for alleged fraudulent ingredients and illegal claims.
The Department of Justice announced a criminal indictment of sports supplement maker USPLabs and several of its executives at a news conference in Washington, DC today as part of a nationwide sweep targeting more than 100 makers and marketers of dietary...
Despite pressure on the industry to rapidly adopt some form of DNA testing, the old question still remains: Methods must be fit for purpose for the products being tested. Attendees at a recent industry event were told that there’s still no quick answer...
The Swedish Food Safety Authority (NFA) has urged consumers not to buy products containing DMBA – a novel substance used to replace the banned stimulant DMAA.
The mounting pressure on supply chain verification means it’s time for more companies in the dietary supplements industry to consider building and staffing their own labs, said NOW Foods exec Aaron Secrist.
GNC laid out a blueprint for the dietary supplement industry for a quality initiative including pre-market product registration at a meeting last week in Salt Lake City. The initiative builds upon GNC’s agreement with the NY AG office and is meant to...
Attention from State Attorneys General is expected to continue and even increase, with a recent meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General’s in St Louis hosting a public session on herbal supplements.
The declaration from FDA on picamilon that formed part of the lawsuit filed by the Oregon Attorney General sets a troubling precedent, said Steve Mister of the Council for Responsible Nutrition.
The attacks on the dietary supplement industry orchestrated by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have had beneficial effect, said American Botanical Council founder Mark Blumenthal. There is no denying the quality temperature is rising.
Marketing botanical reference materials (BRMs) is no way to get rich. But that hasn’t stopped some in industry, such as Alkemist Labs, from offering an expanded line of these products to meet the anticipated greater demand as a result of recent pressures.
Change is a constant in the natural world, but it is accelerating for a variety of reasons, a fact that has serious implications for botanical ingredient suppliers, participants at a recent industry congress were told.
The NY Attorney General’s focus on DNA barcoding may actually be making quality worse, says Frank Jaksch, CEO of ChromaDex, and the focus should be on supply chain management and not analytical techniques.
Preliminary data from 2015 presented at a recent industry forum indicate that the Food and Drug Administration is issuing fewer 483s and the issues generating these observations during inspections are shifting from identity testing to specifications....
Dietary supplements containing picamilon are considered adulterated by the US Food and Drug Administration, because picamilon is not a legal dietary ingredient, the Agency has told NutraIngredients-USA.
Opportunities abound in the growing sports nutrition market, speakers on NIU’s recent forum told listeners. The forum, available on demand, covered topics of marketing, formulation and label transparency.