This week’s big news across the global nutrition and supplements industries includes U.S. trade associations pushing back against potential misinterpretation of supplement use for measles, Monteloeder’s Mindrevive ingredient for the aging brain, and Taiwan FDA’s plans to allow knee joint health claims.
Supplement industry sets record straight on cod liver oil for measles
After Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promoted the use of cod liver oil and vitamins to combat the measles outbreak in Texas, dietary supplement trade associations warned against extrapolating misinformation.
Secretary Kennedy added that although there is no approved antiviral, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently updated its guidance to support physician-administered vitamin A for mild, moderate and severe infection.
The text of the guidance states that “supportive care, including vitamin A administration under the direction of a physician, may be appropriate.”
“Measles is a serious and highly contagious viral disease that can lead to severe health complications,” the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) told NutraIngredients.
“Treatment and care for measles should always be conducted under the guidance of a qualified healthcare practitioner. As the FDA states, ‘Dietary supplements are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease.’“
The updated CDC recommendation coincides with reports of at least 164 cases of measles in at least nine states. Most of the cases have occurred among unvaccinated, school-aged children in Texas, and U.S. Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) coverage among kindergarteners is now below the 95% coverage target and decreasing.
Taiwan FDA to allow knee joint protection health claim
The Taiwanese Food and Drug Administration is proposing to add knee joint protection to the list of claims that health foods can make.
Once finalized, there will be a total of 14 functional claims allowed. Existing claims include anti-fatigue, bone protection, blood lipids regulation and liver protection.
At the same time, it has drafted a set of methods for companies to evaluate the efficacy of their products making “knee joint protection” claims.
As part of the evaluation, a clinical trial with an intervention period of at least 12 weeks should be carried out.
This should also be a randomized, double-blind, parallel design, and the dosage used should include the recommended dose for the commercialized product.
Study supports cognitive benefits of Monteloeder’s latest nootropic
A combination of sage and rutin may improve memory and recall in participants with mild cognitive impairment, says a new study that supports the potential benefits of Monteloeder’s new Mindrevive for the aging brain.
The study, published in Applied Sciences, included a clinical trial involving 121 participants between the ages of 50 and 65 with mild cognitive impairment who consumed either Mindrevive at a dose of 250 mg or 400 mg or a placebo every morning after breakfast for three months.
The findings revealed that all study groups, including placebo, improved their Montreal Cognitive Assessment score at 6 and 12 weeks compared to baseline.
However, the higher supplement dose showed an improvement when comparing weeks 6 and 12, which was not observed in the other groups.
“This suggests that from baseline to week 6, there was an acquired learning process, but from week 6 to 12, there was no significant improvement, and that the improvement observed in the higher dose is due to the product’s effect,” the researchers wrote.
