The Natural Products Association (NPA) has chosen a new president and board of directors.

During its annual trade show and convention held July 9-11 in Las Vegas, the organization installed Pat Sardell, owner of Country Vitamins, as the new president for a two-year term.

Newly elected or re-elected to the 22-member board were suppliers Bruce Barlean of Barlean's Organic Oils, Gary Barrows of Bluebonnet Nutrition, Tom Grillea of United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI)/Select Nutrition Division, John Venardos of Herbalife and Bruce Worley of Humphreys Pharmacal, as well as retailer Jeff Wright of Wright’s Nutrients.

NPA is also set to select a new executive director and CEO, after the resignation of David Seckman, who holds the position through July.

In honor of two close friends and a relative stricken with cancer, Rick Collins—a Long Island-based attorney, author and legal authority on performance-enhancing substances—has created Leap for Life (www.leapforlife.org) and will be jumping from a plane for the very first time in his life in order to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

In preparation for this unprecedented Leap for Life, Collins is seeking sponsors to help raise money for this worthy cause, encouraging a donation for each foot he falls. Collins, a partner at Collins, McDonald & Gann, P.C. (www.cmgesq.com) and a popular personality in the bodybuilding, health, fitness and nutrition communities, will be jumping from an altitude of 13,500 feet and hopes to raise a total of $1 for each foot he falls, or $13,500, through his jump.

Collins will perform his Leap for Life August 23 at noon. The American Cancer Society has set up a page to secure sponsors for his fundraising effort, encouraging people to visit www.leapforlife.org to donate by the foot.  Every tax-deductible dollar raised will go directly to the American Cancer Society’s mission to eliminate cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy and service.   

Leap for Life will take place at Skydive Long Island, which offers the highest altitude for jumping on Long Island and is the only drop zone on L.I. flying to 13,500 feet. Collins will be taking off and landing at Calverton Enterprise Airpark—a 2,900-acre airport and one of the largest landing areas in the US.

“As an attorney committed to preserving the rights of informed adults to safe dietary supplements, this jump is a great way for me to get people thinking generally about individual American freedoms and what the law says people can and can’t do,” said Collins. “If an adult can lawfully get in an airplane and jump out in mid-air, why does the government seem so quick to ban nutritional supplements that have comparatively higher safety levels?  From a consistency standpoint, it doesn’t make much sense.”

For more information, visit www.leapforlife.org or www.rickcollins.com, or call (516) 294-0300.

NSF International has partnered with Paragon Leadership International, a Michigan-headquartered leadership development firm, to launch a new series of food safety leadership forums called The Food Epprentice Experience™.

Paragon Leadership created the Food Epprentice Experience to further develop the talents and social contribution of the state’s best and brightest future food industry leaders.  Participants will collaborate to create sustainable, innovative solutions to critical challenges such as increasing public knowledge of safe food handling procedures; expanding agriculture as an economic driver in Michigan; increasing the supply of locally produced, nutritious food to Michigan food banks; and creating workplace strategies to reduce childhood obesity. 

The first one-day forum will take place on Thursday, October 1, 2009 from 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. at NSF International Headquarters at 789 N. Dixboro Rd., Ann Arbor, MI, 48105. Additional Food Epprentice partners include Michigan Farm Bureau, Food Bank Council of Michigan and Michigan Nutrition Network.

Registration is available at www.paragon-lead.com/food.

To learn more, call (877) 264-6200 or visit www.paragon-lead.com.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) recently adopted provisions for five key issues for the food supplement industry in line with provisions supported by the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA).

The Codex decision-making body, which met in Rome from June 29 through July 4, adopted the Recommendations on the Scientific Substantiation of Health Claims, the Nutritional Risk Analysis Principles, the Provisions on Gum Arabic, the definition and table of conditions of dietary fiber, and the use of eight food colors in food supplements, all in line with recommendations from the IADSA. These Codex provisions now become official Codex Standards and Guidelines.

The adopted Recommendations on the Scientific Substantiation of Health Claims now take into account the totality of the available relevant scientific data and weighing of the evidence for substantiating a health claim, rather than placing primary importance on human intervention trials.

IADSA also welcomed the adoption of the Nutritional Risk Analysis Principles, which it described as “a solid framework for the potential future application of the risk assessment method by Codex for the use of vitamins, minerals and other substances in food supplements.”

Gum Arabic was adopted as a carrier at 10mg/kg; and the definition and table of conditions of dietary fiber now distinguish three main categories of carbohydrate polymers, refer to monomeric units and leave the decision on whether to include carbohydrates with monomeric units from three to nine to national authorities.

In addition, the CAC adopted the use of the following eight food colors in food supplements: Allura Red AC, Caramel Colour-Class IV, Carotenoids, Chlorophylls-Copper Complexes, Fast Green FCF, Grape Skin Extracts, Indigotine and Iron Oxides—a decision that IADSA said “will avoid potential confusion in many countries and unnecessary barriers to trade.” 

According to the New York Times, the Obama administration announced July 13 that it would seek to ban many routine uses of antibiotics in farm animals in hopes of reducing the spread of dangerous bacteria in humans.

In written testimony to the House Rules Committee, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, said feeding antibiotics to healthy chickens, pigs and cattle—done to encourage rapid growth—should cease. Sharfstein said farmers should no longer be able to use antibiotics in animals without the supervision of a veterinarian because both practices lead to the development of bacteria that are immune to many treatments.

The measure would ban seven classes of antibiotics important to human health from being used in animals, and would restrict other antibiotics to therapeutic and some preventive uses.

The use of antibiotics for “purposes other than for the advancement of animal or human health should not be considered judicious use,” Sharfstein said in his written testimony. “Eliminating these uses will not compromise the safety of food.”

A new report from independent market analyst Datamonitor identified that sustainable packaging is a growing consumer issue that has the potential to benefit numerous stakeholders. Research showed that at present, US consumers’ interest in packaging is relatively low in general, but that a high proportion of consumers are interested in the sustainability aspect of packaging.

Sustainably oriented packaging is one of a growing number of issues driven by ethics, economics and environmentalism. Data revealed that it is becoming a consumer expectation, albeit not a primary purchase motivator. Economic imperatives, as well as possible greater regulation, mean that more brands are considering sustainable packaging in order to adapt their present approach commented Matthew Adams, consumer analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report.
 
The results of Datamonitor’s consumer survey in the second half of 2008 showed that in the US, almost 50 percent of consumers felt that packaging design has a medium or high level of influence over their choice of food and drink products. However, of this proportion, only 18 percent felt it exerted a high level of influence on purchase. Consumers’ relationship with packaging in many ways is complex because few will admit to its importance because it is often taken for granted, but increasing consumer concern about ecological matters means packaging is an issue that is rising to prominence, said Datamonitor.
 
In the 15 countries around the world surveyed by Datamonitor, consumers in the US were some of the least concerned about over-packaging of products in the household good market, with respondents in Brazil, Germany and Russia less concerned. Of course this does not necessarily mean that people in the US are not ecologically minded consumers, analysts pointed out, but instead the media interest in sustainable packaging is currently low and consumers are less aware of this particular issue.

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