The fact that an upcoming workshop on botanical identification methods has sold out quickly demonstrates the industry is increasingly getting serious about improving its performance on GMP compliance, one of the presenters has said.
An executive with one of the companies promoting cannabidiol for dietary supplements believes that FDA’s recent determination that the compound is not a legal dietary ingredient is premature and will be overturned.
A recent study that found traces of gluten in probiotic supplements has provoked a measured response from the International Probiotic Association. IPA executive director George Paraskevakos noted that only one product in the study that made a gluten-free...
Supplement manufacturer Nature’s Way has responded proactively to prodding from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman by instituting a new, more rigorous plant-to-powder supply chain management structure. The first step was a meeting this week among...
The firms that manufacture healthy food and supplement products do much more than just make products – they are integral partners in product development, regulatory compliance and much more…
Third-party labs that keep their testing information proprietary to gain a competitive advantage may actually be harming their business, say leading experts calling for more transparency in the analytical sector.
An HBO Real Sports segment about dietary supplement use in the US military implied that Sen. Orrin Hatch was complicit in the deaths of several US soldiers who collapsed with the banned ingredient DMAA in their systems.
Those members of Congress friendly to the dietary supplements industry and their staffs don’t seem overly concerned about the brouhaha stirred up by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. In a recent briefing of members of the Dietary Supplements...
A custom DNA microarray may provide a ‘quick, more accurate, and inexpensive’ method for identifying microbials and probiotics in dietary supplements, say the FDA researchers who developed the technique.
A recently filed citizen's petition asking FDA to extend GMP requirements to ingredient manufacturers met with a cautious but generally positive reception among industry stakeholders. Having ingredient suppliers stand outside this aspect of the law...
The Organic & Natural Health Association has filed a citizen petition with the US Food and Drug Administration to extend the FDA’s current cGMPs (code 21 CFR Part 111) to raw material manufacturers.
The supply end of the dietary supplement sector has come under extraordinary pressures of late. While the NYAG affair has called the integrity of the supply chain into question, demand continues to increase for certain ingredients such as Ayurvedic herbs...
Sports nutrition brands, egged on by risk-taking consumers and buoyed by low protein prices, will be the problem children of the dietary supplement industry for the foreseeable future, said an executive with one promiment contract manufacturer.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has agreed to enter into a “dialogue” with the Natural Products Association over his assault on herbal dietary supplements, the organization confirmed in a joint statement today.
By Steve Mister, President & CEO, Council for Responsible Nutrition
We all make mistakes, but how we deal with them and learn from adversity, that’s the measure of a better person. At least, that’s what my grandfather used to say. But these days, it seems that the New York Attorney General (NYAG), faced with the growing...
Fourteen companies have received warning letters from the FDA regarding products containing DMBA (1,3-Dimethylbutylamine), which the Agency states is not a legal dietary ingredient and products containing it are considered to be adulterated.
The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has banned the use of the stimulant BMPEA in dietary supplements and foods. The agency also sent five warning letters to companies that have used the variant of amphetamine in weight loss supplements. ...
Special Edition: View from the aisles: The retailers' perspective
The actions of the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have yet to filter down in a big way to the kind of questions retailers are getting from their customers on supplements. But business executives contacted by NutraIngredients-USA said that...
Another competitor has arrived in the specialized sphere of insurance for dietary supplement companies in the United States with a new program offered by Beazley Group, a worldwide insurance provider with headquarters in the United Kingdom.
In this new era when the quality of dietary supplements has been called onto the carpet in the mainstream media, a San Diego-based testing firm believes it has a solution. The Banned Substances Control Group now offers an expanded testing suite that...
Steve Mister’s 10 year anniversary as president and CEO of the CRN
The two most positive things to happen to the dietary supplements industry over the last ten years have been GMPs and AERs, says Steve Mister, CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition. And what is the most significant negative thing? The NY AG’s action.
Bioavailability enhancements continue to be one of the most active development tangents in the dietary supplement ingredient industry. But even as these approaches gain market traction, basic information about the toxicological profiles of many of these...
Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, a controversial Georgia-based dietary supplement finished products and contract manufacturer, has announced plans to acquire a major Mexican dietary supplement and OTC drug manufacturer, the company announced this week. Hi-Tech...
Organic & Natural Health Association became the first trade association to meet with NY AG’s office this week, and is calling for FDA’s current GMPs (code 21 CFR Part 111) to be applied to raw material manufacturers.
Critics of the dietary supplement industry who were invited to speak at the scientific conference held this week at the University of Mississippi were pulling no punches. Olivier Rabin, PhD, of the World Anti Doping Agency, renewed a call for more stringent...
The constituents of herbal dietary supplements continues to be a point of confusion and contention among those viewing the industry from the outside and was identified as a key point of industry vulnerability during a session of a recent science conference...
Supplement critics who use this week’s FDA’s consumer warning against muscle products adulterated with anabolic steroids to call for more regulation do not understand the problem, says CRN.
US Senators Dick Durbin and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter yesterday to the Food and Drug Administration asking the agency to take action against products containing the synthetic stimulant ingredient known as BMPEA, products which the pair called both “mislabeled...
If it results in a stronger, more compliant industry, the Food and Drug Administration is supportive of activities such as those undertaken by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, according to a statement from agency official Cara Welch, PhD.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer has called on the FDA to ban any products containing BMPEA, but such a ban would be wasteful, says NPA’s Dr Daniel Fabricant.
The controversy surrounding the low-profile botanical Acacia rigidula and its purported amphetamine-like constituents seems to have caught regulators flat footed and has lead one trade association to ban the sale for its members of formulations featuring...
Mike Archbold, CEO of GNC, has issued an open letter to the industry explaining its position in the wake of industry questions and criticism following the announcement that it had reached an agreement with the NY Attorney General.
By By Douglas F. Gansler, Brian P. Kelly and Leslie L. Meredith
Editor’s note: The recent actions of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have changed the enforcement landscape of the dietary supplements industry. This guest article from former Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler and his colleagues explore...
With the NYAG investigation cloud hanging over the industry, longtime safety certifier UL has hit on a fortuitous time to debut its new dietary supplement verification program. The label seal launches today at at the Ingredients Marketplace trade show...
The NY Attorney General’s probe into herbal supplements has prompted an uptick in interest about adverse event reporting (AER) but more needs to be done to ensure companies are fully compliant, expert sources tell NutraIngredients-USA.
Prominent dietary supplement industry critic Dr Pieter Cohen has released a new study that shows that a synthetic stimulant was found in more than half of weight loss and sports performance products tested that listed Acacia rigidula as an ingredient...
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has not backed down in his assault on the herbal dietary supplements industry. In fact, he is turning up the pressure. In today’s special edition, NutraIngredients-USA reviews the major milestones in this...
Albion Human Nutrition, a manufacturer of patented organic mineral amino acid chelates, has recognized one of its raw material suppliers for exceptional service and quality.
The consensus among trade organizations is that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s latest move in is his assault on the dietary supplement industry is based on the falsehood that supplements are unsafe and inadequately regulated.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has taken his assault against the dietary supplement industry up another notch with a letter he and 13 other attorneys general have sent to members of Congress asking for an investigation of the herbal supplements...
Single ingredient trade groups are becoming an increasingly common feature of the dietary supplement industry. Whether they burnish the overall image of the sector or serve to further Balkanize the industry’s message is a matter of debate.
The NYAG affair has put the simmering pot of adulteration of herbal ingredients back on the front burner. A session at the upcoming Ingredient Marketplace trade show in Orlando will focus on the scope of the issue, on methods of detection and on new adulteration...
A consensus is forming around the deal that GNC entered into with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The deal is being seen as good for GNC’s short term interests but bad for the future of the dietary supplement industry as a whole.
As the middle class continues to grow in China, penetrating this market becomes a priority for US brands. Negotiating that bewildering process may have gotten a little easier with the launch of a web portal whose express purpose is to peddle ‘Made in...
A coalition of NGOs has released a policy recommendation on how companies should move forward on the use of nanotech in foods and supplements. The document recommends corporate transparency and label declarations for the use of this technology.
After a months-long interregnum, George Paraskevakos, the new executive director of the International Probiotics Association, formally takes up the reins pledging that the organization will become more agile and vocal in defending and promoting the ingredients.
Consumers are not turning their backs on herbal supplements in response to the NY AG’s probe, but are shifting to brands they can trust, says Gaia Herbs, with the North Carolina company reporting impressive sales growth year-on-year.
There's another pharmaceutical ingredient to add to the list of APIs showing up in products marketed as dietary supplements. It’s fluoxetine, an antidepressant, and why fly-by-night formulators seem to be using it is something of a mystery.
The analytical community should embrace transparency to then allow manufacturers to share that with consumers to build confidence, says Elan Sudberg, CEO of Alkemist Labs.
The recent NY AG probe has kick-started some industry organizations to say self-policing needs to be better, and transparency needs to come to the fore, says Aaron Secrist from NOW Foods.
