Vitamin D, the principal regulator of calcium in the body, may prevent the production of malignant cells, such as breast and prostate cancer cells, and protect against specific autoimmune disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS), according to an article by Sylvia Christakos, PhD, of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.

According to Christakos, research shows that the incidence of MS decreases as the amount of vitamin D available to the body increases, either through sunlight exposure or diet.

“Since vitamin D is produced in the skin through solar or UV irradiation and high serum levels have been shown to correlate with a reduced risk of MS, this suggests that vitamin D may regulate the immune response and may promote a host’s reaction to a pathogen,” Christakos said. Christakos added that MS is mostly unknown in equatorial regions, and that the prevalence of the disease is lower in areas where fish consumption is high.

“Evidence has shown that the maintenance of an adequate vitamin D level may have a protective effect in individuals predisposed to MS,” continued Christakos. “One device of vitamin D action may be to preserve balance in the T-cell reaction and thus avoid autoimmunity.”

Despite this significant evidence, Christakos cautions that further studies are needed to determine whether vitamin D alone or combined with other treatments is effective in individuals with active MS.

The study is available online in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry.

For more information visit www.umdnj.edu.

The United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA), an organization based in Salt Lake City, UT, dedicated to the advancement of the dietary supplement industry, provided a $4,000 grant to Utah and regional students to attend the Western section’s American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) meeting, held earlier in the year at the Utah Valley University campus.

The annual meeting provides an opportunity for regional plant biologists, both students and faculty alike, to exchange ideas and present research developments from a variety of fields. Presenters included faculty from both Bringham Young University and Utah State University and attendees came from several neighboring states, as well as Alaska, Hawaii and three westernmost Canadian provinces.

"Considering that the ASPB is the largest plant-focused organization in the world, the UNPA is pleased to offer its support for emerging plant biologists, whose continuing research and insight will no doubt shape the future of the natural products industry," said Loren Israelsen, executive director of UNPA. "We look forward to seeking out further opportunities to invest in our industry's future through education and exchange."

For more information visit www.asbp.org.

The 14th Socially Responsible Business Awards (SRBA) breakfast will be held on Thursday, October 16, 2008 from 8:30am to 10am in room 205 A-B of the Boston Convention Center, in conjunction with Natural Products Expo East. Additionally, the deadline for nominating companies for this award has been extended until September 8, 2008, at 5pm PDT.

The winners will be honored during the breakfast, which will feature an interview-style discussion conducted by SRBA steering committee chairman Gurudhan Singh Khalsa with Clif Bar founder and CEO Gary Erickson and his wife and Co-CEO Kit Crawford, who successfully integrated social and environmental responsibility into their business.

The Socially Responsible Business Awards are awarded to up to five companies that have demonstrated excellence in integrating social responsibility in multiple aspects of their businesses. The contestants are judged in six categories: community involvement, education, health, employee empowerment, environment and sourcing.

For more information visit www.sociallyresponsibleawards.org.

Probiotics have been well documented in terms of their benefit to gastrointestinal health, but a new report published in the August issue of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens reveals anti-inflammatory and pathogen protection benefits of Bifidobacterium infantis 35624, a probiotic bacterial strain of human origin.

The report explains that the inflammatory response is a key part of the immune system’s battle against invaders, but can result in inflammation and damage to healthy tissue. Inflammation is associated with a wide range of conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, bacterial-induced colitis, type I diabetes and organ transplantation.

“Inflammation is a major factor in a number of chronic diseases affecting millions of people and can cause an unwanted impact on healthy tissue,” said Dr. Liam O’Mahony, lead investigator. “Past research has shown that the probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 can positively impact the body’s immune defense, and this most recent data suggests that its benefits are not restricted to the gastrointestinal tract.”

Specifically with regards to salmonella, the probiotic dramatically increased numbers of certain immune cells that control the immune system’s response in test mice. The mice were administered the probiotic in freeze-dried powder at least three weeks prior to becoming infected with the salmonella infection.

In addition, data show increased numbers of T-regulatory (Treg) cells, or cells that suppress inflammatory disease in a wide range of autoimmune diseases. Administration of the probiotic resulted in the induction of these Treg cells, which protected the host from excessive inflammation during the course of infection.

Researchers concluded that not only does the introduction of Bifidobacterium infantis 35642 result in enhanced protection from infection, but it also limits pro-inflammatory damage caused by overreactions of the innate immune system.

For more information visit www.alimentaryhealth.ie.

Glanbia plc (Kilkenny, Ireland), an international cheese and nutritional ingredients group, announced the acquisition of Optimum Nutrition, Inc. (Aurora, IL), a manufacturer of nutritional supplements for the sports sector.

Known for its USA brands including Optimum Nutrition, Gold Standard 100% Whey and ABB, Optimum Nutrition was acquired for $315 million on a debt-free basis, and will be funded from Glanbia’s existing resources.

"This is an exciting acquisition for Glanbia as it gives us a leading position of scale in a fast growing segment of the nutrition market,” said John Maloney, managing director of Glanbia Group. “It is a close strategic fit with our core areas of expertise in whey and sports nutrition and brings us up the value chain into consumer markets. Optimum also fits very well with the Group’s stated growth strategy and ambition to continue to internationalise our business. The transaction is expected to be earnings enhancing from this year.”

Optimum is privately owned and has three operating facilities located in Illinois, South Carolina and Florida employing 387 people. It has a 22 year track record in the manufacture and supply of a range of whey based, premium nutritional supplements to the US and global sports nutrition markets. In 2007, Optimum generated $185 million revenue and $32 million operating profit. At year-end December 2007, the company had gross assets of $51 million.

For more information visit www.glanbia.com.

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) announced to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s Milk Labeling Working Group that it opposes any proposed state regulation on dairy labeling that would affect the way organic dairy products are labeled concerning the synthetic growth hormone rBGH. The announcement occurred at the Department’s meeting on Friday, August 22 in Indianapolis, IN, and was delivered by Steve Harrold of OTA member Caito Foods.

"Any proposed restriction would prevent organic dairy farmers and processors from truthfully communicating with retailers and consumers regarding federally regulated organic production practices,” said David Gagnon, OTA's interim director.
“It also would prevent Indiana consumers from exercising full and free choice in determining which products they wish to purchase.”

Additionally, OTA submitted a letter and a white paper to acting Indiana agricultural director Ken Klemme on the issue of dairy labeling, pointing out that organic agriculture is regulated nationally under the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), and that the US Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program has oversight over both the certifiers of organic farms and the handlers and labeling statements made under OFPA.

“By definition, organic farmers never have used synthetic growth hormones such as rBST or rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone). The statement about non-use of synthetic growth hormones that organic farmers and their dairies make on their dairy product labels is an organic process claim authorized under OFPA," Gagnon wrote.

Monsanto (St. Louis, MS), a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation which has been linked to the state-by-state efforts to impose restrictions on dairy labels concerning the non-use of rBGH, recently announced it is selling its POSILAC recombinant growth hormone to Elanco, a division of Eli Lilly and Company (Indianapolis, IN). OTA, via a lawsuit, is currently challenging Ohio's emergency dairy labeling regulation that limits organic dairy manufacturers' ability to provide truthful and non-misleading information to consumers on dairy product labels.

For more information call (413) 774-7511 or visit www.ota.com.

The Food for Life Baking Company (Corona, CA) recently announced it is unable to buy sufficient quantities of organic grains to meet demand from consumers for its breads, tortillas, pasta and breakfast cereal products.

“There is a worldwide organic grain shortage. This limits our access to the high quality, organic whole grains we need to make our bakery products,” said Gary Torres, sales and marketing director of The Food For Life Baking Company.

For the first time in the company’s history, the US organic wheat supply was exhausted in early 2008, Torres said. Also, due to a three-year worldwide drought, the size of the organic wheat berry is smaller with less protein. This leads to the forced modification of bread recipes to include gluten fiber to make up for the missing protein.

This lack of organic grain has caused the company to reduce production and ration products to supermarket and health food store customers in the US, Canada and other countries.

Because manufacturers now have to look abroad for the organic wheat that they once obtained through US suppliers, they fall victim to escalating fuel prices, in addition to the escalating wheat prices and dwindling crops.

“I am really concerned, because rising grain costs have forced us to increase wholesale prices of Food for Life products to retailers, who have raised prices to consumers,” Torres stated. Organic grain prices have doubled since 2006, but manufacturer demand has only increased due to interest from large manufacturers like General Mills and Kraft.

Torres also noted that over the course of the past two years, the retail cost of a 24-oz. loaf of the company’s Ezekiel 4:9 bread has doubled from less than $2.50 to more than $5 at many stores, and the outlook for the future is not good. Torres said he believes that the price of all products made with grain will increase as worldwide fuel and grain costs escalate.

“The worldwide organic grain shortage is critical,” said Greg Thayer, a grain broker from Montana. “I expect the problem to get worse as the world’s population grows, demand for organic grain increases in more countries around the globe, crop failures due to environmental change—including drought and global warming—continue, economic factors worsen and the wheat fungus spreads from East Africa to the Middle East and possibly reaches Asia.”

For more information visit www.foodforlife.com.