Ongoing and upcoming events will showcase the latest programs, projects and technological advances to keep industry constantly up-to-date on the latest and greatest offerings.
A new best-practice-based liability insurance designed for the dietary supplement industry—called Platinum Program—will make its debut on March 5 at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California. All supplement manufacturers, own-brand holders and ingredient suppliers are invited to learn more about this program, with coverage levels much higher than previously available—up to $20 million. The first-of-its-kind insurance program is a special project of Chicago-based, wholesale insurance broker RT Specialty in cooperation with the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA). The program will be introduced from 9 to 9:30 a.m. in Platinum room 4 in the Anaheim Marriott Hotel.

Next month, Pharma Technology Inc. (PTI) will introduce two new tableting technologies to the U.S. market at INTERPHEX NYC 2015. The company will also showcase two machines from its portfolio of premium tablet dedusters. PTI’s new technologies include PharmaSpray, an external tablet lubrication system; and a core coating module for Roeltgen’s FlexiTab® Tablet Press. The company’s AIO - All In One Tablet Deduster, Metal Detector and Tester System; and its PTGV 1200 Capsule Polisher will also be on display at the Jacob Javits Center (booth 2871), April 21 to 23.
Another ongoing campaign, announced by the American Botanical Council, recently launched to provide an educated and responsible consumer movement supporting high-quality herbal remedies and sustainable and ethical sourcing. The Sustainable Herbs Project is a new project from Ann Armbrecht, Ph.D., and Terrence Yolk, producers of the award-winning documentary “Numen: the Nature of Plants." The two are creating an interactive documentary following medicinal plants through the supply chain to provide consumers with the information needed to feel more confident about the herbal remedies they purchase. Through stories, videos and facts, this documentary will bring the supply chain to life with interviews with men and women involved in all aspects of the industry. The kickstarter campaign has launched to cover costs up front so the interactive multimedia website will be available for free. The project will only be funded if at least $54,000 is pledged by February 26, 2015.
Industry should also tune into happenings at the Pacific Southwest section of AOAC International’s annual meeting, where Jana Hildreth, Synutra Pure’s director of technology and scientific affairs and a leading expert in chondroitin testing, today updated attendees on official method development for chondroitin testing. Much of the program is focused on food safety, emphasizing authentication, adulteration and contamination. The authentication and adulteration session updated attendees on the stakeholder panel on dietary supplements, formed under the collaborative agreement between NIH and AOAC International to develop new, validated analytical methods for dietary supplement ingredients and products. Other topics and speakers at the event, held February 18 to 19 in Monterey, California, include “anthocyanins" by Aniko Solyom, GAAS Corporation; “PDE5 inhibitors" by James Neal-Kababick, director, Flora Research Laboratories; and "the next four ingredients" by Paula Brown of the British Colombia Institute of Technology.