Dietary supplements

What's driving supplement growth? Ageing, fitness & self-care

17-Feb-2016 By Will Chu

Recent years have seen an upsurge in supplement use. Products that were only available in specialist health food stores have gone mainstream, available alongside groceries in the supermarket and online.

Make compendial standards compulsory to improve consistency & quality of supplements, says USP paper

15-Feb-2016 By Stephen Daniells

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.

One day to go! NutraIngredients-USA’s Transparency in Dietary Supplements forum

10-Feb-2016 By Stephen Daniells

Experts from CRN, UNPA, NOW Foods, FoodState / MegaFood, and The Shelton Group will discuss the vital issue of transparency during our free-to-attend online forum. There is still time to register to attend this important discussion!

Special Edition: Transparency in Dietary Supplements

Customers demanding transparency from supplement brands, retailers say

21-Jan-2016 By Hank Schultz

The notion that food consumers are more committed to transparency than are supplement users is not borne out at the retail level, experts from two natural channel retailers say.

Dietary guidelines seen as big win for supplements, step forward for omega-3s

13-Jan-2016 By Hank Schultz

The new dietary guidelines release by the US Department of Health and Human Services are seen as a win for the concept of supplementation, and helped boost the fortunes of specific nutrients such as EPA and DHA.

NPA objects to EPA's classification of leftover supplements as 'hazardous waste pharmaceuticals'

08-Jan-2016 By Hank Schultz

The Natural Products Association has objected to a move by the Environmental Protection Agency that would classify leftover dietary supplements as ‘hazardous waste pharmaceuticals.’

Curcumin, synbiotics, omega-3s & garlic: The Top 10 Science of 2015

16-Dec-2015 By Stephen Daniells

From breakthrough studies to controversial hypotheses, it has been a fascinating year for science for dietary supplements. In this special gallery we review the top science headlines from 2015.

Legal dietary supplements vs illegal drug-spiked products: FDA clarifies its language

07-Dec-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

The US Food and Drug Administration has updated terminology on its web pages to more accurately describe illegal, drug-spike products and to remove references to these as dietary supplements, following requests from the American Herbal Products Association...

Supplement marketer gets four months after pleading guilty to criminal contempt of court

02-Dec-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

A Livingston, MT resident has been sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay $80,000 in liquidated damages after pleading guilty to selling dietary supplements in violation of two court orders.

‘Bananas!’ Academic compares supplements to Big Tobacco, calls for more state & local legislation

24-Nov-2015 By Stephen Daniells

More stringent state or local-level laws could enhance regulation of dietary supplements, says a new academic paper that also compares the industry to Big Tobacco.

Trade associations unanimous in support of DoJ/FTC/FDA crackdown

17-Nov-2015 By Stephen Daniells

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.

‘It’s embarrassing that it’s come to this’: FDA inactivity prompts McCaskill to ask retailers to voluntarily pull any and all picamilon supplements

10-Nov-2015 By Stephen Daniells

Senator Claire McCaskill has written to 10 retailers to ask them to voluntarily remove any dietary supplements containing picamilon, ‘after weeks of inaction by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’.

Dr Cohen, CSPI & CRN join Attorneys General to discuss herbal supplements

05-Nov-2015 By Stephen Daniells

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.

Special edition: Regulatory Focus

Sharfstein floats new regulatory framework dialing in on safety and backing off on claims

03-Nov-2015 By Hank Schultz

Former FDA official Dr Joshua Sharfstein, MD, has proposed a new paradigm for the regulation of dietary supplements. The underlying shift would be a move from an attitude of “benefit versus risk” to one of “access with safety.”

CRN exploring development of registry of dietary supplements

03-Nov-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

The Board of the Council for Responsible Nutrition has adopted the proposal to move forward with a registry of dietary supplements, which could be a relatively quick process if an existing database can be ‘massaged’ to fit the criteria.

Special Edition: Regulatory Focus

Federal court rebuffs FTC effort to apply pharmaceutical standards to dietary supplement substantiation

03-Nov-2015 By Marc Ullman and Steven Shapiro

The decision in the Bayer Corp. contempt case has important implications for the dietary supplement industry, say attorneys Steven Shapiro and Marc Ullman in this guest article:

PLT Health Solutions creates quality umbrella to better communicate transparency, efficacy message

13-Oct-2015 By Hank Schultz

Transparency. Traceability. These are the watchwords of the market these days, and branded ingredient supplier PLT Health Solutions is trying to take this bull by the horns with a new program called PLT 360.

Sen McCaskill calls for vinpocetine and picamilon supplements to be pulled from shelves

06-Oct-2015 By Stephen Daniells

Senator Claire McCaskill, the ranking member of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging, has called for the FDA to suspend sales of supplements containing vinpocetine and picamilon pending an investigation.

‘This is heating up’: Studies highlight concerns over yohimbe supplements

01-Oct-2015 By Stephen Daniells

There is increasing scrutiny of yohimbe and yohimbine supplements, with three papers published in 2015 reporting concerns over these supplements, including one last week from Harvard’s Dr Pieter Cohen.

NEW DATA UPDATE

Number cruncher: Europe’s key supplement markets, brands & opportunities revealed

22-Sep-2015 By Nathan Gray

The sale of dietary supplements is estimated to be worth worth around €7.2 billion to the European economy in 2015, but which markets are the biggest, and where is future growth projected to come from?

NSF expands dietary supplements program leadership

21-Sep-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

Responding to “rapid growth” in demand for its dietary supplements programs, NSF International has expanded its leadership team.

DOJ: ‘We have put fighting illegal activity in the dietary supplement industry high on the priority list’

17-Sep-2015 By Stephen Daniells

Illegal activity in the dietary supplements industry has become "a massive, and wide-ranging, consumer-protection problem", says the Department of Justice, which has put the issue high on the priority list within its consumer protection agenda,...

AHPA urges USP to not ID tainted products as dietary supplements in official document

05-Aug-2015 By Hank Schultz

The American Herbal Products Association has urged the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) to not the muddy the waters by using the term “dietary supplements” in an official document to refer to what are really misbranded or unapproved drugs.

Industry opening up to idea of pre-market notification process for supplements

03-Aug-2015 By Hank Schultz

Is it time to consider new legislation to alter the landscape that DSHEA created for the dietary supplements industry? The issue was raised in a recent public industry forum and met a generally positive reception.

Senior FDA & FTC officials to share insights at CRN’s The Conference

27-Jul-2015

FDA’s Ted Elkin and FTC’s Mary Engle will present key regulatory insights at The Conference, hosted by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, October 21–24 at The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage, in Palm Springs, CA.

AHPA helps amend Louisiana laws that unfairly banned some herbal ingredients

08-Jul-2015 By Hank Schultz

The American Herbal Products Association has succeeded in helping to pass an amendment in Louisiana that restores to legal commerce certain herbs that have been legally marketed as dietary supplements in the US but had been banned under state law.

Consumers understand micronutrient supplements help fill nutrient gaps, says CRN survey

02-Jul-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

The majority of consumers recognize that nutritional supplements can help fill nutrient gaps but should not be viewed as replacements for a healthy diet, according to a new survey conducted on behalf of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN).

Victory! Blumenthal/Durbin’s amendments to limit military access to supplements fail to make final bill

19-Jun-2015 By Stephen Daniells

Amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act to limit military access to dietary supplements will not be included in the final bill after failing to make it to the floor vote, NutraIngredients-USA has learned.

McCaskill opens inquiry into brain health supplements targeting seniors

17-Jun-2015 By Stephen Daniells

US Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has sent letters to the Food and Drug Administration and 15 major retailers after launching an inquiry into products, regulations, and retailers in the dietary supplement industry that specifically market to seniors...

Industry opposes Durbin/Blumenthal amendments to limit military access to dietary supplements

09-Jun-2015 By Stephen Daniells

The Natural Products Association and the Council for Responsible Nutrition are rallying support against amendments to the Department of Defense 2016 spending bill to limit military access to dietary supplements. The spending bill is considered by some...

Does transparency matter for dietary supplements?

02-Jun-2015 By Marc Brush, Principal, Bend LLC

There’s something on my mind. Why don’t consumers of dietary supplements respond to transparency messaging the way consumers of natural food do?

Is it time for industry to swallow Schneiderman's bitter pill?

27-May-2015 By Hank Schultz

Should the dietary supplements industry look at the actions of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as a wake-up call? There are many valid reasons to brush off his actions as mere grandstanding, but if for nothing other than political purposes...

HBO report links Hatch to military deaths associated with DMAA via his sponsorship of DSHEA

20-May-2015 By Hank Schultz

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.

‘Prioritize the aggressive pursuit those who sell drug products masquerading as supplements’: Sens Hatch and Heinrich tell US AG Lynch

20-May-2015 By Stephen Daniells

Senators Orrin Hatch and Martin Heinrich are urging new US Attorney General Loretta Lynch to ‘aggressively’ tackle the issue of products marketed as supplements but tainted with steroids or pharmaceutical ingredients.

Members of Congress get the good news on dietary supplement quality, expert says

19-May-2015 By Hank Schultz

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...

Legislation by litigation? CSPI investigating Saw Palmetto claims

19-May-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is conducting a survey to assess “whether the advertising claims made about [a supplement] are legally and factually permissible”, with the initial focus on saw palmetto.

‘A valuable addition to QC’: FDA GutProbe may help verify accurate labelling in commercial probiotics

19-May-2015 By Stephen Daniells

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.

Schneiderman agrees to open 'dialogue' with NPA via joint statement

11-May-2015 By Hank Schultz

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.

NIU’s Retailer forum: ‘Innovation is much more innovative now’

07-May-2015 By Stephen Daniells

‘There is plenty of innovation going on in dietary supplements’ and the NY Attorney General’s investigation is ‘a wake-up call for the retailers’, according to participants of NutraIngredients-USA retailer forum.

Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals suing Harvard researchers for $200 million

04-May-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

BMPEA proponent Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, Inc, has filed a suit against four researchers, including Dr Pieter Cohen, alleging a recent study published in Drug Testing and Analysis is defamatory. Hi-Tech is seeking $50 million in compensatory damages and...

The Retail Landscape: Challenges in 2015

23-Apr-2015 By Daniel Fabricant, PhD, Executive Director and CEO, Natural Products Association

The digital marketplace, participating in advocacy efforts, and why membership of a trade association is important: In this guest article, Daniel Fabricant, PhD, Executive Director and CEO, Natural Products Association gives his views on the retail landscape...

Special Edition: View from the aisles: The retailers’ perspective

The Global Retailer and Manufacturer Alliance: ‘A huge opportunity to increase efficiency and quality’

23-Apr-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

The first retailer standard for dietary supplements in the Global Retailer and Manufacturer Alliance (GRMA) should be available this year, giving retailers a single standard and auditing program to help reduce audits and costs while strengthening safety,...

WADA exec: Bad actors in supplement sphere getting worse and only premarket approval will weed them out

17-Apr-2015 By Hank Schultz

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...

Continuing confusion over herbal supplement contents points to need for premarket notification, expert asserts

16-Apr-2015 By Hank Schultz

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...

NY Senator calls for BMPEA to be banned, but such a move would be ‘wasteful’, says NPA

13-Apr-2015 By Stephen Daniells

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.

FTC's position in Bayer case runs counter to DSHEA and consensus of scientific thought, NPA contends in second brief

18-Mar-2015 By Hank Schultz

The Natural Products Association has filed a second amicus brief in the contempt case brought by the Federal Trade Commission against Bayer over health claims it made on its Philips Colon Health probiotic supplement. The brief contends that the agency’s...

Education gap on supplements means myths can persist among pharmacists, MDs

17-Feb-2015 By Hank Schultz

The New York AG affair has revealed a gulf: While the majority of Americans say they use dietary supplements, few of them understand much about how they’re made, or regulated. This gulf exists among pharmacists and physicians too, a recent survey revealed.

Cooperman: AG used wrong test, but that doesn't mean there isn't a quality problem in supplement industry

12-Feb-2015 By Hank Schultz

The dietary supplement industry might eventually come out ahead in the public relations battle over the fallout caused by the actions of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. But that shouldn’t paper over the fact that serious questions about the...

Supplement manufacturer slapped with permanent injunction after series of warning letters

10-Feb-2015 By Hank Schultz

An Oregon-based marketer of dietary supplements has been slapped with a permanent injuction for distributing prodcts that the Food and Drug Administration alleged were adulterated and were unapproved new drugs.