Across the nutra-verse: Top news from around the world (March 18)

18-Mar-2019 - Last updated on 18-Mar-2019 at 13:27 GMT

It’s a global industry and there’s a lot happening. We know it’s not always easy keeping up with everything that’s happening around the world. The answer? Our weekly round-up of key news from across the globe.

USA

US Indictment handed down in Florida over sale of SARMs, steroids

The US Department of Justice, working with the US Food and Drug Administration, filed charges against six people and two companies for allegedly selling illegal drugs masquerading as supplements.

The federal authorities listed the illegal ingredients allegedly contained in the products, including SARMs (selective androgen receptor modulators), the pro hormones dimethazine, methylstenbolone and methyl-l-etiocholenol, and picamilon, which has been ruled by FDA to not be a legal dietary ingredient.

“Fraud by supplement manufacturers and distributors is extremely dangerous for consumers, who rightly assume that a dietary supplement product sold in stores or online will not contain unapproved drugs,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division.

“These products are not safe and that is why we will continue to aggressively pursue and prosecute those who import, manufacture, and distribute dangerous and illegal ingredients for fraudulent purposes.”

For more on this from NutraIngredients-USA, please click HERE.

Europe

Roquette to take over manufacturing plant rights for biosuccinic acid

Roquette will take over the manufacturing plant rights and obligations of the supplement ingredient related to biosuccinic acid after the dissolution of a joint venture with DSM.

The JV, called Reverdia, began in 2012. Production for the ingredient will continue at a plant in Italy, and DSM will become the exclusive licensor to prospective customers.

Biosuccinic acid can be used as a dietary supplement to aid in alleviating symptoms related to menopause such as hot flashes and irritability.

Atul Thakrar, president of bio-based products and services at DSM, said: “The Reverdia joint venture has proven Biosuccinium technology to be the most sustainable and competitive bio-succinic acid on the market today.

“We have gone well beyond the start-up phase and the Biosuccinium brand will continue to grow under the leadership of our partner Roquette. This is an example of DSM doing what it does best — establishing market-leading technologies and commercializing them.”

For more on this story, please click HERE.

Asia

Danone collaborates with Israeli start-up for innovative packaging

A new collaboration between Danone and Water.io, an Israeli smart packaging start-up, will see the French dairy giant introduce ‘smart cap’ technology into its Spanish mineral water brand, Font Vella.

The collaboration promises to offer personalization through everyday consumer goods by allowing users to track their hydration levels.

The smart cap is synced to a mobile app called Coach2O, which helps to monitor its user’s water consumption so it can “coach them towards adequate hydration”, according to Danone.

Kobi Bentkovski, CEO and co-founder of Water.io, told NutraIngredients-Asia: “The technology is very unique — it’s essentially an IOT for packaging, and we use it to combine regular consumer goods with smart technology.

“This collaboration with Danone is very important for us, because it applies our technology to everyday products on a large scale, and personalizes products to suit individual customers — in fact, this is the first time a CPG has been personalized.”