Generative AI, conversational AI, machine learning, AI-driven search engines and AI chatbots…it seems like we can’t go anywhere or do anything without hearing about AI.
A controversial paper that used a DNA testing methodology to allege widespread adulteration in herbal products has been allowed to stand unrevised, despite calls for its retraction.
Dr Steven Newmaster, a botanist at the University of Guelph (UG) in Canada, has been cleared of misconduct by a university investigation committee despite “many shortcomings” with his work and “a pattern of poor judgement”.
An explosive article published in Science alleges fraud against Dr Steven Newmaster, a botanist at the University of Guelph in Canada, and again calls into question the 2013 paper on which the damaging NY Attorney General’s investigation of herbal supplements...
The Supplement Safety Compliance Initiative has strengthened the industry in the wake of New York Attorney General affair and has put it in a far better position to deal with future challenges, attendees at a recent event were told.
Swiss nutrition giant Nestlé has reportedly confirmed that it will acquire The Bountiful Co. prior to a planned initial public offering for the maker of Nature’s Bounty supplements.
As the news about COVID-19 becomes ever more sobering, the question becomes what dietary supplements might do to help. I think there is opportunity here, but talking about it requires walking a tightrope over a gulf of regulatory peril.
The US Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to seven companies that have been alleged to have been making COVID-19 disease treatment claims. Among the recipients of the warning letters is a prominent televangelist.
Temptation is a fact of human nature, and is an element in the sports nutrition game as well. Some sports products seem ever to edge toward an ethical line, spurred on by the demand from their consumer constituencies for ‘edgy’ formulations.
Progress on the Supplement Safety & Compliance Initiative has included pilot audits and a revamped mobile app for farmers, an executive with one of the groups behind the initiatve has said.
A recent USP stakeholder meeting wrestled with the thorny issue of how to put some kind of standards around the use of DNA techniques for botanical ingredient identification. The word from one of the attendees is that it is far too early to tell where...
From profiling their ingredient suppliers to setting up codes consumers can look up, supplement brands are using transparency to win over consumer trust.
Sabinsa is bolstering the power of its ID testing for its botanical and other ingredients by forming a tight partnership with the Eurofins analytical laboratory.
New leadership at NSF's AuthenTechnologies unit will 'more closely align' it with the organization's 'core scientific testing and research services', and will help to better define where DNA testing is best used, the division's...
By Steve Mister, president & CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN)
One of the year’s highlights for me was getting to see Hamilton in New York City. (And by the way, it really was terrific—everything that I expected and more!) One of the many things that stayed with me from the show was the question “Who tells your story?”...
A nascent organic herbal cooperative model in Vermont offers the promise of increasing domestic herbal ingredient sources. The founders say they have been pleasantly surprised that demand for these higher priced materials has consistently outstripped...
A new technology building on genetic information as the basis of botanical identification has been demonstrated in a recent research paper dealing with a common TCM ingredient.
Despite a high profile legal wrangle with FTC and with the New York Attorney General, memory support supplement manufacturer Quincy Bioscience has enough revenue in the tank to afford a high-dollar sponsorship of a NASCAR racing team.
Helping consumers maintain healthy memory function is one of the peaks many dietary supplement formulators seek to climb. And it is one of the most likely targets for regulatory enforcement action, too.
The botanicals sector is thriving, in part because it is hooking onto broader trends in the culture. That’s the message that audience members received during a webinar yesterday.
A new government program being facilitated by the American Herbal Products Association will assess the reliability of current DNA techniques for botanical identification.
A collaborative group that includes stakeholders from across the industry is moving forward in an effort to define what is meant by ‘quality’ when referring to a dietary supplement.
As part of a corporate makeover, CVS Pharmacy says it intends to institute new standards for the dietary supplements it sells that will include specific testing requirements.
Setting high quality standards is one thing. But making that pay? That’s not so easy, said participants at a recent dietary supplement industry meeting.
The American Herbal Products Association has issued a version of its ‘botanical GMPs’ document. Several member companies have stepped forward to field test the recommendations, AHPA president Michael McGuffin said.
The University of Guelph in Canada is launching the NHP Research Alliance to provide global leadership to advance the use of DNA testing and molecular diagnostics in quality assurance QA of natural health products.
Quincy Bioscience, marketers of brain health product Prevagen, has been charged with making deceptive memory, cognitive improvement claims by the Federal Trade Commission and New York State Attorney General.
A year after the NY AG probe on botanical supplements, big calls for transparency came from both consumers and the industry. This year, we dedicated some of our in-depth coverage to transparency post-Schneiderman, as well as trends in contract manufacturing....
Supplement giant NBTY has reached an agreement with NY AG Eric Schneiderman to use DNA Barcoding to authenticate herbal ingredients and invest in herbal genetic research.
Experts from GNC, Nature’s Way, Herbalist & Alchemist, and the American Botanical Council will discuss the challenges and opportunities in botanicals category in a FREE forum hosted by NutraIngredients-USA.
An onerous administrative order in Puerto Rico has been pushed further onto the back burner, according to press reports and industry trade association communications.
The botanical ingredients raw material GMP program started by GNC and managed by the American Herbal Products Association will be ready for final review in October, said an AHPA official.
With 118% growth in the mass channel and 32% growth in the natural channel, turmeric/curcumin was the stand-out ingredient in 2015, with overall sales for the ingredient exceeding $50 million in mass & natural channels.
The initial investigation launched by NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman focused on seven herbs - Echinacea, garlic, Ginkgo biloba, ginseng, Saw Palmetto, St John’s wort and Valerian. We review the data to see what’s happened to these ingredients.
The Natural Products Association has stepped up its campaign at the national level to blunt the effects of an administrative order in Puerto Rico that puts additional burdens on dietary supplement companies operating there.
DNA barcoding to identify and authenticate botanical ingredients in dietary supplements should only be used in addition to other existing analytical methods, says a new expert review.
Having a crisis communications plan in place to deal with allegations of financial impropriety is a must for a public company, as ChromaDex Corp recently learned to its chagrin.
The botanical raw material GMP proposal put forward by GNC earlier this year is in active revision, according the American Herbal Products Association.
A moribund Massachusetts bill that would have restricted the sale of certain dietary supplements is part and parcel of a rising tide of state bills that affect the industry, according to CRN.
A bill that would have set into stone onerous requirements on dietary supplements in Puerto Rico has been set aside, and two trade associations are taking credit for helping to avert the threat.
Is the dietary supplement industry getting a handle on the adulteration issue? The baseline data does not exist to be able to say one way or another. But sources agree that in the one thing you can measure—the attention the issue is getting—the situation...
Schneiderman, McCaskill, Cohen, Frontline… it’s been blow after blow for the dietary supplements industry, so you have to ask if consumer confidence and trust in the products have been affected.
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.
The New York Attorney General’s Office believes DNA barcoding is still critical for testing herbal supplements, despite new studies showing the inadequacies of the technology.
Two new studies have shown what many in industry have been claiming for a long time: DNA barcoding by itself is not an adequate method for analyzing botanical dietary supplements.
Scott Bass, partner, Sidley Austin LLP, and Steve Mister, President & CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), will co-chair the Fourth Annual Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance Forum on Dietary Supplements.
