NOW, PLT Health Solutions, Sabinsa, Nutraceutix and more announce partnerships, awards, industry news and more, including consumer research study results from the Organic and Natural Health Association on their perceptions of natural and organic.

The Organic & Natural Health Association released the results of a consumer research study conducted as a first step in their initiative to set the standard for the term “natural." The online research study of 1,005 U.S. consumers was conducted by Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) and found one in three consumers do not make a quality distinction between the terms “natural" and “organic" and/or government regulation for products with such labels.

Other findings from the study confirmed more confusion in the marketplace with the term natural. Common misconceptions include the belief that most vitamins come from natural sources and that “natural" means no pesticides are used. And while three-fourths of consumers perceive that organic foods must be at least 95-percent free from synthetic additives, almost two-thirds of consumers expect the same standard from natural foods. Further, approximately half of the consumers surveyed believe that natural means the product is free of synthetic pesticides and are non-GMO, attributes that are unique characteristics of organic products.

With 46 percent of consumers surveyed believing that the U.S. government regulates the term natural, the study concluded the organic industry should improve education for consumers regarding the differing attributes of organic and natural in order to elevate the status of organic. Furthermore, manufacturers producing natural products need to continue to clarify the meaning of natural so the term does not become diluted and lose significance among consumers.

In the research study, consumers indicated that they were more likely to use natural than organic foods; in fact, 60 percent reported using organic less than once a week or not at all with more than one-third using natural once a day or more. When it comes to meats labeled as natural, attributes of “no-added growth hormones" and “antibiotic-free" were of primary importance to consumers.

“The overarching intent of this survey is to improve access to quality organic and truly natural food, products and services," said Karen Howard, CEO and executive director of Organic & Natural. “Our goal is to support increased access through consumer research and education and we are now embarking on the development of a program that will create a clear, meaningful definition for natural foods, followed by a definition for natural supplements."

Howard said based on study results Organic & Natural will require the definition of natural, like organic, to translate into 95 percent of all ingredients qualifying as such, with explicit definition of ingredients qualifying for the 5 percent exclusion. In the case of fortified food and dietary supplements, synthetic vitamins will qualify for the exclusion with the exception of synthetic vitamin E and D. Organic & Natural’s definition of natural will be comparable to the definition of organic, requiring that all natural labeled food be non-GMO and not contain artificial preservatives, colors, flavoring or sweeteners, but in some cases there will be additional criteria beyond organic standards. For example, beef will be held to organic standards and must be grass-fed and pastured to earn a natural designation. They will also promote quality standards for organic and natural by endorsing the ancillary certifications upon which consumers currently rely upon, including non-GMO and grass-fed beef.

NOW® presented two posters on testing methods at the 129th AOAC International Annual Meeting, held Sept. 27 – 29 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.  Analytical scientist Mark Krzeszowiec and senior analytical scientist Katarzyna Banaszewski presented “Rapid Screening of Illicit Steroids in Dietary Supplements by UHPLC-TOF Mass Spectrometry", a rapid, full-scan method for the detection of illicit steroids in raw botanical ingredients and dietary supplements suitable for use in a routine QC environment. The method can be expanded to cover a wider array of illicit substances, and can also be used as a confirmatory test, supplemental to the HRMS.

Banaszewski and analytical chemist Nirali Patel presented “Streamlined Multi Residue Pesticide Analysis of Dried Botanical Dietary Ingredients Using GC-Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer and Chromeleon™ 7.2 Software."  The method performance exhibits applicability for routine pesticide screening in a wide variety of botanical dietary ingredients, with data acquisition, analysis and reporting easily implementable in a high pace QC environment.

PLT Health Solutions Inc. and DolCas Biotech LLC are bringing OXYSTORM™ Standardized Nitrate, an extract of red spinach (Amaranthus dubius)—one of the richest sources of nitrate in nature—to the U.S. market. A patent-pending production process extracts 9,000 mg/100 g of nitrate from the leaves of red spinach. The powder ingredient is nutrient-dense, 100-percent water-soluble, sugar-free and has a neutral pH, making it ideal for any formulation type. 

According to Sid Hulse, director of new product development at PLT Health Solutions, recent research and increasing interest in supplemental nitrate to improve health and sports performance are driving the introduction of this new ingredient.  

Klöckner Pentaplast Group opened a new packaging innovation facility—the kp i.center—in Charlottesville, Virginia. Home to the Pharmaceutical Film Division’s newly expanded BlisterPro® XCEL suite of consulting, design, stability and prototyping services, kp i.center provides a collaborative space created to help global pharmaceutical customers bring products to market more quickly and economically.

The kp i.center offers a welcoming environment for packaging professionals to immerse themselves in idea sharing with kp’s expert packaging design engineers, leading to the discovery of innovative packages and prototypes optimized for customer’s products. Working together with the kp team, customers will be able to use the blistering center to test and assess designs in real time. The cooperative approach will greatly reduce the time it takes to design and choose packaging, thereby shortening product to-market release.

“We wanted a destination for clients to ‘take residency’ and work side-by-side with us on their specific packaging needs," said Daniel Stagnaro, Director, global market development. “The center facilitates rapid packaging design, and gives customers a truly personalized experience."

The center was conceived to meet the needs of global pharmaceutical packaging professionals, including those in operations, marketing, and procurement, for both branded and generic products. 

SuperNutrition not only reformulated its PreNatal Blend multivitamin with NattoPharma’s MenaQ7® as its source of vitamin K2 (MK-7), but Better Nutrition Magazine also named SimplyOne Heart Smart™ a Best Supplement of the Year award winner in the heart-health category. Award winners will be featured in the November 2015 issue.

SimplyOne Heart Smart™ has also been named one of Informa Exhibitions’ finalists for the 2015 SupplySide CPG Editor’s Choice Awards for achievements in innovation and market impact in the heart-health category. Winners will be announced SupplySide West 2015 in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Oct. 7 from 3 – 3:30 p.m. at the Editor’s Choice Awards Winner Announcements.   

“We are honored to have our patent-pending SimplyOne Heart Smart with MenaQ7 selected as a Better Nutrition Magazine award winner and as a finalist for the Editor’s Choice Award,” said Kathy Mooney, CEO of SuperNutrition. “After following years of research, like the Rotterdam Study, we developed SimplyOne Heart Smart with vitamin K2 in combination with its necessary partners, vitamins A (retinol) and D3. These three fat-soluble nutrients work together to support arterial health and flexibility in a way that has never been done before. And it’s a really tasty chewable one-per-day, making it very easy to take every day.”

Nature’s Power Nutraceuticals (NP Nutra) created an exclusive partnership with Nisarg Biosciences that will give NP Nutra rights to sell and market Nisarg products in the United States and potentially in other geographies. To celebrate the partnership, NP Nuta created a new category of products called Nutra Veda, which is launching at SupplySide West.

American Medical Holdings Inc., in association with Japan BioActives K.K., announced their FB3® Fusion Ingredient was selected as one of five top finalists in the weight-management category by Informa Exhibitions’ CPG Editor’s Choice Awards.   

One winner in each category will be announced at SupplySide West 2015 during the SupplySide CPG Editor’s Choice Awards presentations, held Oct. 7 from 3 - 3:30 p.m. at booth #3183.

FB3 Fusion Ingredient has been formulated based on customer response to side effects of pancreatic lipase inhibitor and synergism determined in preclinical and clinical research of individual botanical ingredients of the FB3 Fusion Ingredient composition, i.e., C. forskohlii, S. reticulata and S. Indicum.

Valensa International received a series of patents covering the composition and application of nutraceutical formulations featuring Perilla seed oil as a major component. The most important of these new patents is one that covers the use of Perilla seed oil alone or in combination with other omega-3 sources such as krill oil, algae oils, fish oils and other seed oils for cardiovascular health support.The company plans to utilize this new intellectual property in a range of new formulated products.

Nutraceutix was awarded the 2015 North American Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award.
Based on Frost & Sullivan’s analysis of the probiotics market, this award recognizes Nutraceutix as a visionary company in the probiotics marketplace, one that has made the most of patented processes and technologies to help brands formulate and deliver the industry’s finest premium probiotics.

Sami Labs, the manufacturing arm of Sabinsa Corp., received two Pharmexcil Awards for 2014 -2015 in the herbals category: the Silver Award for Patents and the Outstanding Export Performance Award. Pharmexcil, a ministry set up by the Government of India as a gateway to global pharma trade, bestows annual awards to acknowledge those companies that excel in developing proprietary products granted patents throughout the world.  The awards were presented during the "Pharma CEOs Conclave" organized by the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) and sponsored by Department of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. 

In other news, Sabinsa Corp. initiated legal action against Nachurél Ingredients LLC for intellectual property infringement with a cease and desist letter. The letter, addressed to Velmurugan Shanmugham, stateed “It has recently come to our attention that Nachurél is commercializing products that infringe upon Sabinsa’s intellectual property rights. Sabinsa has a strong interest in protecting its intellectual property, and aggressively pursues infringers worldwide. In an effort to avoid litigation, we request that Nachurél immediately stop its infringement of Sabinsa’s intellectual property rights.

“Specifically, Nachurél is advertising, offering to sell, selling, and/or using products such as ‘Turmeric oleoresin granules’ and ‘Turmeric oleoresin powder’ that infringe Sabinsa’s patents (e.g., U.S. Patent No. 5,861,415). Nachurél is also contacting customers from Sabinsa’s propriety lists, and is offering the same products from Sabinsa’s proprietary lists. Finally, Nachurél has copied Sabinsa’s proprietary documents and other materials."

In his previous position with Sabinsa as senior manager – regulatory affairs and manager QA/QC, Shanmugham had access to all of the documents and in-depth knowledge of the products Sabinsa accuses him of copying. Sabinsa gave Shanmugham and Nachurél Ingredients until Oct. 9, 2015, to reply.

In September, Kirby Lester celebrated its 10-year anniversary since it was brought under the ownership and leadership of Garry Zage, R.Ph. The purchase sparked a dramatic rejuvenation for the venerable company that pioneered pharmacy automation in the 1970s. Since 2005 when Zage took the helm, Kirby Lester has notched impressive milestones:

One of Zage’s first priorities was building the right leadership team with a vast amount of market and technology expertise: Dave Schultz, CTO; Aleks Geltser, VP of engineering; Christopher Thomsen, VP of business development; Dave Johnson, VP of sales. Even now, after Kirby Lester became a division of Capsa Solutions in 2014, the entire executive team remains intact inside Kirby Lester.

“The stability of this team is extremely beneficial in all aspects of the business from product development, customer relations, customer support and the operation of the company," Zage said.

As part of its ongoing expansion strategy in nutrition and health, Lesaffre, a key global company in the field of yeast and fermentation, announced a majority participation in Gnosis, an Italian company specializing in the development, production and sale of fermentation ingredients for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and veterinary industries.

Founded in 1989 by biotechnology engineer Aldo Basseti and managed by Renzo Berna, Gnosis has experienced strong growth since its inception. It now possesses skill and specialist expertise in microbial fermentation and in recovering and purifying molecules derived from yeasts and bacteria. Gnosis has registered more than 40 patents, in more than 60 countries, the company has two GMP production sites and two commercial offices.

The Italian industrial family group Maccaferri acquired a significant shareholding in this company in 2002 in order to support its expansion. Wishing to refocus its business activity, particularly in the field of renewable energy, it has now decided to transfer all of its shares to Lesaffre. With this operation, Lesaffre strengthens its presence and its offering in the fast-growing nutritional ingredients and human health sector.