To understand Functional Foods you must see it as a strategy to add value to processed foods, says the president and founder of the HealthyMarketingTeam, Peter Wennstrom, in this guest article.
Faced with mounting difficulties in their drug businesses, many pharmaceutical manufacturers are looking at getting into functional foods and beverages, notes food marketing expert, Julian Mellentin in this guest article.
“This is a good move for Raisio. They are the correct parent of this niche brand.”
“J&J should have sold it 10 years ago,” is one analyst’s appraisal of Finnish agro-food giant Raisio’s buy-back of the licensing rights to its cholesterol lowering, plant stanol-based Benecol brand today, referring to US market difficulties for the...
China’s food and drug regulators have embarked on modernising the country’s health food industry by releasing two draft documents covering nutritional supplements to form a new category within the country’s fast-evolving regulatory framework.
Academic: "Anybody who thinks the world’s malnutrition problems are going to be solved without industry is dreaming."
By Shane Starling from the 3rd World Congress of Public Health Nutrition in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Emerging research linking vitamin E deficiency with increased risk of Alzheimer’s, miscarriages and fatty liver disease can contribute to an ongoing debate around recommended intakes, a nutrition congress was told yesterday.
After years of calling for changes in Australia’s supremely tight regulatory framework, Australian complementary medicine manufacturers might just get some of the things they’ve been asking for, even if the process will only be a “quiet revolution”, according...
Calcium supplementation (Marigot’s Aquamin) could prevent exercise-associated bone density reduction in post-menopausal women, according to an American study.
Speaking at the complementary medicines industry’s national conference Sydney, the chief executive of Complementary Medicines Australia welcomed a report by Frost & Sullivan to show a robust link between some complementary medicines with the reduced...
Tate & Lyle used the recent Food Ingredients-Asia trade event in Jakarta as a springboard for its mounting ambitions in the country of 250 million people as well as other parts of Asia. Fibre and low-calorie sweeteners for weight control were a big...
From an €80 million market for anti-ageing placenta supplements to the world’s most innovative (and fad-driven) functional foods and drinks market, Japan’s healthy ageing market is unique and instructive.
Australasia’s food regulator has released a consultation paper on the back of calls by an Australian food industry body for the start date for new dietary fibre content claims to be delayed.
Next Tuesday NutraIngredients is proud to host our first healthy ageing forum, an hour long online discussion about a booming sector with leading experts.
By Shane Starling from Food Ingredients-Asia in Jakarta
Irish dairy and ingredients group Kerry sees a lot of potential in an Indonesian market where sophisticated nutritionals are gaining ground with a young demographic. It is upping investment in a country with south east Asia’s largest population (250m).
The ‘surprising’ discovery of a previously unidentified class of lipid molecules that enhance insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control could offer a route to the prevention of type 2 diabetes, say researchers.
By Shane Starling at FI-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia
From tea yoghurt to coffee fruit energy, portable water enhancement to Milo’s brand expansions, Mintel shared category-busting innovation at Food Ingredients-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia, this week.
Governments might not want to admit it, but according to a leading academic in microbiology and probiotics, there is demand for probiotic products with detoxification properties that can help protect against uptake of toxic metals such as mercury and...
The absence of any EU-approved health claims for probiotics hasn’t deterred Lallemand Health Solutions from launching a suite of probiotics addressing women’s health issues.
As healthcare industry faces increasing expenditure, the emphasis shifts from treatment to prevention thorough use of nutraceuticals and better nutrition, say Frost & Sullivan analysts.
Danish probiotics player Chr Hansen has launched a patent-pending soft gel that can deliver live probiotics with a two-year shelf life and matched it with a probiotic-omega-3 supplement targeting pregnant women.
Vitamin D supplementation improves winter-related atopic dermatitis (AD) in children at risk of vitamin D deficiency and could provide a safe alternative to UV light treatment, according to a new study led by Boston researchers.
"We aren’t going to wake up one day and everything will be crystal clear; there’s going to be some trial and error going through it.”
By RJ Whitehead & Shane Starling at Health Ingredients-Japan in Tokyo
Japan will implement a new health claims system that is set to supersede its strict FOSHU regime in April 2015 – just six months away – but what form will it take and will it meet its deadline?
By Shane Starling at Health Ingredients-Japan in Tokyo
Japan’s innovative but restricted €25bn functional foods and food supplements sector is about to be handed a set of game-changing marketing keys by the government, industry players told us at Health Ingredients-Japan in Tokyo today.
Breakfasts rich in protein from dairy, but not soy, could stimulate mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), which is known to cause muscle cells to increase protein synthesis, says a new study.
Global lipid supplier Enzymotec has established a Southern Hemisphere subsidiary, Enzymotec Australia with Claudette Cross at the helm of the country’s operations in Australia and New Zealand.
Sports nutrition products should not be allowed to sponsor sporting events, say two researchers from the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living in Australia.
Dutch research organisation TNO is working with industry partners on a pilot scale algae refining plant with potential in omega-3s, proteins and antioxidants.
In today’s complex global marketplace, the patchwork of regulatory standards, cultural variations and logistical realities of time and space create an environment in which harmonisation may seem impossible. Not so, argues James C Griffiths, PhD, VP of...
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The elderly needn't make significant dietary changes to boost their daily intake of protein and could instead rely on enriched "everyday food", research by Fonterra suggests.
The soy industry has hit back at a recent study that suggested soy supplementation could worsen rather than ameliorate breast cancer by influencing gene behaviour.
Scientists taking part in a joint study by two Australian universities say they hope their research will help people suffering from clinical depression by offering them new combination of nutrient-based medications to enhance mood.
Spanish supplier Blendhub is taking the rare step of offering customers access to its new library of near infra-red (NIR) spectroscopy analyses from more than 300 raw materials.
Australia’s complementary medicines chief has hit out at an an inquiry into “the promotion of false or misleading health-related information or practices” by the New South Wales committee of the Healthcare Complaints Commission (HCCC).
Australian beef producers and feed companies can benefit from a University of Queensland (UQ) project that is demonstrating how microalgae derived feed can be produced cheaply and efficiently.
Policies governing nutrient and health claims, labeling and use of mascots on breakfast cereals in New Zealand need a serious re-think, researchers say.
Daily consumption of pomegranate juice may help control blood sugar levels in type-2 diabetics, as well as improving the function of beta cells in the pancreas, say data from a human trial.
DSM Nutritional Products (DNP) is not abandoning its folic acid (vitamin B9) offering but has added a high-end, folate form aimed at global supplement and food makers in a deal with Merck in Switzerland.
Sales slipped 6% and net profits 11% in Q2 for DSM’s human and animal nutrition arm as adverse currency movements, a slow US vitamins and omega-3 food supplements market and the Asian botulism infant formula scare affected earnings.
Labelling of infant formula sold in the Pakistani department of Punjab must now include the warning “mother’s milk is the best food for your baby and helps in preventing diarrhoea and other illnesses,” according to new prohibition and guidance rules released...
The US-China Health Products Association has once again urged regulators to replace the term “health food” with “dietary supplement” in a submission to food authorities concerning the recent draft reform of China’s food safety law.
New findings that the body is less efficient at metabolising folic acid than natural folates could inform policy-making decisions as the UK government considers mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid.
Probiotics research is now entering the Malaysian mainstream, according to two female Universiti Sains Malaysia students who recently received international recognition for their work.