To end the confusion of which natural personal care products truly qualify as “natural” and to help consumers, the Natural Products Association (NPA) announced a new certification program on May 1 that defines the term “natural” and includes an easily-identified seal. Shoppers can expect the seal to begin appearing on certified personal care products in the coming months.

“People want natural products because they are good for them and good for our environment,” said Debra Short, president of the NPA. “But anyone could claim their product was ‘natural,’ even if it was 100 percent synthetic or petroleum-based. That wasn’t fair to consumers or to companies who make truly natural products, and this seal will help end all that confusion.”

With public interest in natural personal care products growing stronger each day, research confirms consumers are very confused about what constitutes a “natural” product.  A recent survey by Yankelovich, a consumer research company, showed that:

• More than three of every four (78 percent) American women think natural personal care is currently regulated or don’t know if it is, while nearly all (97 percent) think it should be.
• Two of every three American women think a personal care product labeled “natural” should contain at least 95 percent natural ingredients.

Under the new program, products must follow strict guidelines set out by the NPA to merit bearing the seal. The criteria include, but are not limited to:

• Product must be made up of at least 95 percent truly natural ingredients or ingredients that are derived from natural sources
• No ingredients with any potential suspected human health risks
• No processes that significantly or adversely alter the purity/effect of the natural ingredients
• Ingredients that come from a purposeful, renewable/plentiful source found in nature (flora, fauna, mineral)
• Processes that are minimal and don't use synthetic/harsh chemicals or otherwise dilute purity
• Non-natural ingredients only when viable natural alternative ingredient are unavailable and only when there are absolutely no suspected potential human health risks

The full set of criteria can be found on the NPA website at www.naturalproductsassoc.org/certifiednatural.

In response to a joint citizen’s petition filed by the American Dietetic Association (ADA), The Obesity Society, Shaping America’s Health and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, LP, which asks the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat weight loss claims for dietary supplements as disease claims, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a trade association representing the dietary supplement industry, issued its statement.

“CRN plans to oppose this petition to re-classify weight loss claims as either disease claims or health claims requiring FDA approval,” said Steve Mister, president and CEO of CRN. “We believe weight loss claims are legitimate and appropriate claims for products in the dietary supplement category, provided these products have substantiation to support the truthfulness of these claims. FDA has made it clear that it considers weight loss claims appropriate and permissible under the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA)—meaning that manufacturers should not have to seek the Agency’s approval before making these claims. Therefore, CRN intends to vigorously defend the industry’s rights in this area.”

CRN, founded in 1973, is a Washington, DC-based trade association representing dietary supplement industry ingredient suppliers and manufacturers. For more information visit www.crnusa.org.

USDA’s database of antioxidant values for various foods places blueberry juice at the top of the list among more than a dozen juices tested including pomegranate, apple, prune, cranberry and Concord grape. Using the Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (ORAC) testing procedure, the gold standard of antioxidant measures for detecting the free-radical scavenging ability of foods, blueberry juice had the highest ORAC score of 2,906 umol TE/100g. The ORAC database was prepared by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and is available at
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/12354500/Data/ORAC/ORAC07.pdf.

“A serving of 100 percent fruit juice is a healthy way to get one of your daily fruit servings,” said Susan Davis, MS, RD, nutrition advisor to the Wild Blueberry Association of North America (Old Town, ME).  “A glass of juice can be a refreshing, nutritious energy boost, but moderation of how much juice you drink is key. Control calories by making juice part of an overall healthy diet that includes many fruits and vegetables and balances carbohydrates, fats, protein and fiber.”

The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends anywhere from 2.5 to 6.5 cups or five to 13 servings a day of colorful fruit and vegetables depending on age, gender and activity level. According to Davis, a 4-oz. glass of 100 percent fruit juice equals half a cup of fruit and counts toward daily fruit serving goals.

The ORAC assay has become the most referenced source of antioxidant values for food. Manufacturers of a wide range of food products highlight ORAC values of their products on labels and websites to provide information and guidance to their customers on the sometimes confusing information emerging on dietary antioxidants.

While the recent USDA data collection didn’t specifically list ORAC results for wild blueberries or wild blueberry juice versus just blueberry, previous USDA tests have shown wild blueberries outperform more than 20 other fruits in the ORAC test.

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Fuji Health Science, Inc. (Burlington, NJ), a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., announced the introduction of a new directly compressible tablet excipient, F-Melt-Type C. This new excipient is designed to allow a tablet to disintegrate in less than 30 seconds while still in the mouth. The technology is known as ODT (orally disintegrating tablet) offers an alternative to traditional tablets, which many consumers find difficult to swallow.

To achieve this unique function, F-melt is produced using a proprietary spray drying process creating a particle matrix that is very porous allowing water to be rapidly drawn through a tablet formulation. F-Melt is designed to be dry blended along with other ingredients to form a hard tablet with rapid disintegration and an excellent mouth feel. The components of F-Melt are all pharmaceutical and food grade and acceptable for use in all major markets.

Jowell Bolivar, the chief scientist for Fuji Health Science, said, “The beauty of this new excipient system is that it does not require any special equipment or third party proprietary involvement. It allows a company to produce an orally disintegrating tablet in-house on traditional tablet equipment.”

Charles DePrince, president of Fuji Health Science added, “In an industry that is struggling to find differentiation, F-Melt offers the opportunity to introduce a new delivery system and an alternative to the consumer for a more enjoyable experience or on-the-go supplementation.”

For more information contact Fuji Health Science at (877) FUJI- 777 or e-mail at contact@fujihealthscience.com.

Congressional negotiators announced a final agreement on a $300 billion farm bill on Thursday, as the White House and key conservatives continued to signal opposition to the legislation, according to a report by the Associated Press.

One of the biggest sticking points has been how much money would be paid to wealthy farmers. Under the legislation, married farmers with joint incomes of up to $1.5 million a year and individuals who make more than $750,000 could still qualify for some crop subsidies.

As details of the House-Senate compromise emerged on May 8, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer reiterated a Bush administration threat to veto the bill. The White House Budget Director Jim Nussle said the legislation was too costly, relied on budget gimmicks and “doesn’t have hardly enough reform.”

Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker and a supporter of the bill, said she wished it had gone further in limiting payments to wealthy farmers, but praised increases for nutrition programs, including food stamps and emergency domestic food assistance, by more than $10 billion. The measure would increase spending on organic to over $100 million in mandatory funding over five years and also expand a program to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to schoolchildren.

Under the compromise, the government would expand subsidies for certain crops, extend dairy programs and increase loan rates for sugar producers. The measure includes language that calls on the federal government to buy surplus sugar and sell it to ethanol producers, where it would be used in a mixture with corn.

The bill would cut a per-gallon ethanol tax credit that supports blending fuel with the corn-based additive to 45 cents from 51 cents in favor of more money for cellulosic ethanol, which is made from plant matter.

The compromises would provide more money for conservation programs intended to protect farmland. It would cut expanded food assistance for an international school lunch program that was passed in the House farm bill last year. While the House had included more than $800 million in permanent dollars for the McGovern-Dole program, the final bill includes less than $100 million.

In addition, the measure would pay farmers for weather-related losses out of a $3.8 billion disaster-assistance fund.

The family-owned Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court against numerous personal care brands to force them to stop making “misleading organic labeling claims.”

Dr. Bronner’s and the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) said they had warned offending brands that they faced litigation unless they committed to either drop their organic claims or reformulate away from main ingredients made from conventional agricultural and/or petrochemical material without any certified organic material.

David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, said, “We have been deeply disappointed and frustrated by companies in the ‘natural’ personal care space who have been screwing over organic consumers, engaging in misleading organic branding and label call-outs on products that were not natural in the first place, let alone organic.”

Based on surveys, Dr. Bronner’s has determined that organic consumers expect that cleansing ingredients in branded and labeled soaps, shampoos and body washes that are labeled “Organic,” “Organics” or “Made with Organic” will be from organic materials rather than from conventional agricultural material, produced without synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides and free of petrochemical compounds.

The lawsuit also names Estee Lauder, Stella McCartney’s CARE, Ecocert and OASIS. Dr. Bronner’s said that Ecocert in practice engages in "creative misinterpretation" of its own rules to accommodate clients engaging in organic mislabeling. In addition, the new Organic and Sustainable Industry Standard (OASIS), will permit certification of products outright as "Organic" (rather than as "Made with Organic" ingredients) even if such products contain hydrogenated and sulfated cleansing ingredients, according to Dr. Bronner’s. The lawsuit is also naming companies like Kiss My Face, JASON Natural Products, Giovanni, Desert Essence, Ikove, Juice Organics and Head Organics.

At press time, the Hain Celestial Group could not comment for JASON Natural Products, because of the litigation.

Ronnie Cummins, executive director of the OCA, said, “The pressure of imminent litigation outlined in cease and desist letters sent by OCA and Dr. Bronner’s in March prompted some serious discussion with some of the offending companies, but ultimately failed to resolve the core issues.”