According to market research firm Mintel, more than half (52 percent) of consumers are monitoring the amount of sodium in their diets. Meanwhile, food product introductions containing a low, no or reduced sodium claim have increased by nearly 115 percent from 2005-2008, according to Mintel's Global New Products Database (GNPD). Consumer awareness and the continued push from public health organizations and consumer advocacy groups suggest that the low-sodium change is gaining steam.

“The rapidly rising evidence in the past several years points out sodium as a major cause of hypertension, osteoporosis, kidney damage and stomach cancer,” said David Lockwood, director of consumer insights at Mintel. “Because of this scientific knowledge mixed with that of global health activists, there is a climate forming for rapid change. We are starting to see this information set into motion with a reduction in sodium on packaged goods and restaurant menus.”

Mintel reported four main trends in how consumers are reacting to sodium:
• 22 percent restrict the amount of salt that they add to food, but don’t watch the much greater amount of sodium that is in foods and beverages
• 18 percent say that “food and beverages low in sodium are one of the three most important components of a healthy diet”
• 26 percent read labels for sodium, and may make some decisions based on this info, but they are not following a regimen to control sodium in their diet
• 34 percent do not pay attention to sodium

It helps that the craving for salt can truly be lowered over time, research indicated. Three out of four respondents who said they are on a sodium-restricted diet also said that they “do not miss the salt.” Being able to cut back is critical, Mintel said, given that 70 percent of women over 75 and 80 percent of men over 75 are currently on medication for hypertension.

Nature’s Formulary (Clifton, Park, NY) recently expanded its Ayurveda + infoLink program.

Ayurveda + infoLink is Nature’s Formulary’s network of Ayurvedic professionals, practitioners and educators. The program was launched in February of this year and has now expanded to cover the West Coast of the US, several mountain states as well as locations in the Midwest. The goal is to deploy the program over the entire country as soon as possible, the company said.

“At the disposal of Nature’s Formulary for the purposes of providing training to retail store staff and educational seminars to consumers at in-store events, Ayurveda + infoLink program staff now gives us the ability to reach a wider base even quicker,” said Kristin Giuliani, national sales and marketing manager at Nature’s Formulary. “Ayurveda is an age old, unique life science that emphasizes health through a holistic approach—a view that research shows more and more Americans are adopting.”

The training and educational programs not only cover the company’s traditional Ayurvedic supplements that are based on the Tri-Dosha concept, but there is also a significant amount of education on Ayurveda and how everyone can design a lifestyle plan that includes herbal supplements, personal care, diet, exercise, massage.

Nature’s Formulary customers can now contact an Ayurvedic practitioner for suggestions on how to develop a healthy daily lifestyle plan. Many practitioners offer telephone consultations as well as one-on-one sessions. Designed to fit each person’s unique constitution (Dosha), Ayurvedic herbal remedies are paired with optimal diet, exercise, personal care plans in way which produces far better results, said Nature’s Formulary. This access to practitioners is intended to give the consumer someone to consult with on an ongoing basis leading to better compliance with the health care regimen and in turn better health.

For more information, call (800) 923-9338, ext. 10 or visit www.naturesformulary.com.

Spanish multinational Natraceutical Group, and French multinational Naturex formalized a memorandum of understanding for the merger of their ingredient activities, which is expected to be effective before the year’s end. The transaction is planned to be structured by means of the integration of Natraceutical’s ingredients division into Naturex.

With a product portfolio that includes nutraceutical ingredients, flavoring, preservative and innovative extracts on Naturex’s side, and natural colors, fruit and vegetable powders, pectins, functional ingredients, yeasts and caffeine by Natraceutical’s ingredients division, the new company will combine the strengths of Naturex, strongly positioned in the USA, and those of Natraceutical, strongly positioned in Europe.

The resulting company will have production sites in Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom), the US, Morocco, Australia and Brazil and own sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia, thus being ideally placed to take advantage of the ongoing growth and consolidation of this sector.

The company will operate under Naturex management, headed by Jacques Dikansky, chairman and CEO of the company.

After closing of this deal, and from an operational point of view, Natraceutical Group will focus its efforts in the full development of their nutritional supplements division in Europe, which the company markets exclusively in pharmacies under the brand name Forté Pharma.

For more information, contact Naturex at (201) 440-5000.

Lallemand Inc. (Rexdale, ON, Canada) announced the completion of the acquisition of Lake States Yeast Division from the Wausau Paper Group. Lake States Yeast is a leading producer of inactivated torula yeast operating in Rhinelander, WI.

Lake States Yeast LLC will operate as a separate unit within Lallemand, but its product portfolio will be integrated in the Lallemand Bio-Ingredients division complementing the inactive yeasts and yeast extracts produced in Montreal (Canada), Salutaguse (Estonia) and Grenaa (Denmark).

The Bio-Ingredients team continues to focus on developing markets in food and fermentation ingredients, investing heavily in the production of inactive yeasts, yeast extracts and yeast derivatives in the existing plants in Denmark, Estonia, Canada and now also USA. The Lake States acquisition is in this respect a coherent expansion of these efforts in order to offer the best possible product portfolio to Lallemand customers all over the world in the food, flavor, fermentation and nutraceutical markets, the company said.

For more information, call +1 514-522-2133 or visit www.lallemand.com.

At the urging of the National Organic Coalition and others, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that it will subject its National Organic Program (NOP) to a stringent audit and continued oversight by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  
 
In a July 29 letter addressed to the National Organic Coalition, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan underscored the value of scrutinizing the NOP to strengthen the integrity of the program and the USDA organic seal.
 
NIST’s National Voluntary Conformity Assessment Systems Evaluation (NVCASE) program reviews accreditation programs such as the NOP to assess their ongoing conformity with international standards for management of accreditation program through onsite audit, evaluation of office system and oversight of record keeping, enforcement and corrective actions.
 
“Third-party recognition is important for many of USDA’s audit-based programs,” Merrigan said in her letter to the National Organic Coalition. “We understand the value of this step as we continue working to strengthen the integrity of the NOP and to build the organic community’s trust in the program.”  Merrigan anticipates that the NIST review will begin October 1, 2009.
  
In June, the National Organic Coalition met with Merrigan to discuss the need for greater consistency in the implementation of NOP rules. The coalition proposed that the NOP apply to NIST at the US Department of Commerce for recognition of its accreditation function and to make a commitment to strictly comply with NIST requirements.
 
For the NOP to be recognized by the NIST NVCASE program, National Organic Coalition anticipates NOP will be required to make significant modifications to its accreditation procedures.
 
“We think the USDA and the entire Obama administration have sent a clear message that maintaining and improving the integrity of the organic industry is a national priority, and that the USDA will continue to build a trusting alliance with the broader organic community as the NOP grows and matures,” said Liana Hoodes, National Organic Coalition policy coordinator.

Beginning on August 19, 2009, Earthscan, an independent publisher of books and journals on climate change, sustainable development and other environmental technology, will offer free one-hour webcasts on a different topic each month, giving viewers the opportunity to learn from and interact with leading authorities from a range of different fields. The audio presentations will be accompanied by illustrative slides and viewers will have the opportunity to contribute to discussions by submitting questions during the events. The subjects covered will include all of Earthscan’s specialties, including business, climate change, energy, the built environment and natural resource management.

The first Earthcast, entitled “Carbon Markets and Climate Change Mitigation,” will be broadcast Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 9 a.m. PST, 12 p.m. EST when the authors of Carbon Markets and Voluntary Carbon Markets will debate the effectiveness of market based mechanisms in helping to mitigate climate change. Nicholas Howarth from the Oxford University School of Geography and Environment, Arnaud Brohé from CO2logic, Kate Hamilton from Ecosystem Marketplace and Ricardo Bayon from EKO Asset Management Partners will be analyzing the current state of carbon markets, discussing possible future trends and fielding questions on the issue.

The second Earthcast, entitled “Sustainable Business Practice: Process and Implementation,” will be broadcast at the end of September 2009. Join the authors of The ISIS Agreement, The Step-by-Step Guide to Sustainability Planning and The Business Guide to Sustainability for an event that presents different yet complementary methods of providing sustainability training.

Alan AtKisson and Marsha Willard will tackle the issues faced by organizations attempting to implement sustainable practices, and explore the practical experiences of consulting firms AXIS Performance Advisors and The AtKisson Group in an international context.

For more information, and to register for the events, visit www.earthscan.co.uk/earthcasts.

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