Across the Nutra-verse: Quality of echinacea & turmeric products questioned, more

USA​

Consumer Reports questions quality of echinacea, turmeric supplements​

US consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports​ has called into question the quality of many turmeric and echinacea supplements in the US, after testing if the products met label claim in terms of their bioactive content and to see whether they were contaminated with lead or with microorganisms.

The article, which headlines the December issue of the product testing organization’s magazine, detailed the results of tests of 16 echinacea products and 13 turmeric products representing a range of major brands sold at retailers like GNC, CVS, Walmart and Whole Foods Markets.

Consumer Reports’ tests found that only 17 of the 29 of the products met the testing criteria. The others were failed for lead content, bacterial amounts or too low levels of bioactives.

In response, the American Herbal Products Association pushed back at the report, stating: “Consumer Reports provides important food safety information to consumers on issues such as potential pathogenic contamination of romaine lettuce and handling of raw chicken in home preparation. ​

“AHPA appreciates such guidance when it’s within CR’s area of expertise, but its apparent lack of understanding of supplement regulations combined with its unwillingness to consider experienced input to learn more about herbal product quality standards diminishes the value of its communication in this subject area.”​

For more on this, please click HERE​​.

Europe​

Glanbia nutrition business powered by SlimFast acquisition ​

Glanbia Performance Nutrition (GPN) has reported 16.9% increases in revenue, with SlimFast, which Glanbia acquired for €300 million at the end of last year, enjoying strong growth and pro-forma like-for-like sales up 34.8%.

“In GPN while we are very pleased with the performance of the SlimFast acquisition our like-for-like volume performance is disappointing.  This is largely driven by specific challenges in key non-US markets,”​ said Siobhán Talbot, group managing director.

“We are actively addressing the issues in these markets as they represent a compelling long-term growth opportunity for the Group.”​

For full year 2019, GPN expects like-for-like branded revenue to decline by mid-to-high single digits predominantly as a result of continued challenges in non-US markets and a lower level of activity in the Club channel.

For more on Glanbia’s results, please click HERE​​.

Asia​

AstaReal aims to be “first mover” with astaxanthin in Thailand’s functional beverage market​

AstaReal is working with finished product manufacturers to deliver astaxanthin in functional food and beverage in Thailand, the firm’s Singapore president, Dr Vincent Wood, told our Asian edition at FI-Asia in Bangkok.

Dr Wood said Thailand had potential because, “it is very quick to take on innovative ideas, especially for products with health benefits”​.

“We wanted to push forward this and be a first mover in this space by using our astaxanthin emulsion which no one can copy at this moment, and bring the benefits through the functional beverage,” ​he added.

The company has already been granted regulatory approval for delivering astaxanthin in functional beverages.

For more on this, please click HERE​​.