CVS Pharmacy launches ‘Tested to be Trusted’ program for supplements

 ​TOP STORY
CVS Pharmacy launches ‘Tested to be Trusted’ program for supplements CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health, announced the launch of "Tested to Be Trusted," a program requiring third-party testing of all vitamins and supplements sold in-store and online to confirm the accuracy of the dietary ingredients listed on the supplement facts panel and to confirm products are free from certain additives and ingredients. Supplement products from 152 brands across 11 categories have completed testing. The expanded assortment and new vitamin and supplement testing standards are the latest evolution in CVS Pharmacy's commitment to being a trusted partner in health and holistic wellness and are the focus of a new campaign dedicated to the importance of self-care. Read more→

UNPA NEWS
Need a PCQI? June 26-28 training with a DS, food and botanicals focus
UNPA will conduct Preventive Controls Quality Individual (PCQI) training with a focus on dietary supplements, food and hemp-oil products and other botanically derived ingredients, June 26-28, in Westminster/Denver, Colo. Register today!

NEW! Expert Insights OnDemand: Ten kinds of synthetic biology likely to affect your clean-label product
Jim Thomas, co-director of ETC Group, provides a detailed look at 10 new and emerging genetic technologies that may impact the supply chain for food and dietary supplement ingredients.

​REGULATORY
FDA’s Yiannas: At the end of the day you’re not selling products, you’re selling trust What do housing crises and dietary supplement recalls have in common? They cause a big bust to consumer trust, according to Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for food policy and response at FDA, making the comparison during his keynote speech at the Dietary Supplement Regulatory Summit on Tuesday in Washington D.C.

FDA warns five homeopathic companies for significant violations The Food and Drug Administration announced that it has posted warning letters to five manufacturers of homeopathic products for significant violations of current good manufacturing practice regulations. Kadesh Inc., U.S. Continental Marketing Inc., Fill It Pack It Inc., and Bershtel Enterprises LLC, doing business as WePackItAll, jointly manufacture and package Puriton Eye Relief Drops, according to the announcement. FDA said multiple samples were tested and the drops were found to be non-sterile and to have a high pH level, which, according to the FDA, could lead to infection or eye injuries such as glaucoma, corneal scarring and loss of vision.

NDIs at 25: Third time’s a charm The first two attempts to define New Dietary Ingredients under DSHEA crashed and burned. Will hemp CBD change FDA's thinking?

TRADE
U.S. raises China tariffs, threatens to impose more President Donald Trump has raised existing tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25 percent, effective on all goods that shipped out of China after 12:01 Friday, May 10. China’s finance ministry announced that it would retaliate by raising tariffs on a range of American goods; China currently has tariffs on $60 billion in American goods.

Trade war intensification poses risks for natural products, experts say The latest intensification of the U.S.-China trade war will compress margins and could constrict supply, experts in the import of dietary ingredients have said.

M&A ACTIVITY
Neptune Wellness Solutions acquires Sugarleaf Labs to establish U.S. hemp supply chain Quebec-based Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. is expanding its North American hemp supply footprint by acquiring all of the assets of SugarLeaf Labs LLC and Forest Remedies LLC (collectively, SugarLeaf), a commercial hemp company based in North Carolina. Through the acquisition, Neptune is establishing a substantial U.S. hemp-extract supply chain, gaining a 24,000-square-foot facility and SugarLeaf’s innovative cold-ethanol processing technology.

Nutrition Capital Network deal download April 2019 Supplement deals were down in 2018, but sales are expected to rebound. Besides supplements, hot categories in natural products include CBD, hemp, snacks, dairy and tech.

LEGAL
Bayer rocked by $2 billion Roundup verdict A California jury awarded more than $2 billion to a couple, who claimed that the herbicide Roundup caused their cancer. Meanwhile, a court memo reveals communication between strategic intelligence and advisory firm Hakluyt and the Trump administration with regards to the White House’s position on Monsanto, noting that the company “need not fear any additional regulation from the administration.”

PRODUCT STANDARDS
Supplement industry touts new benchmarking standards New benchmarking standards for nutritional supplements were discussed during the American National Standards Institute’s recent Dietary Supplements Standardization Coordination Meeting. Dadrion Gaston, senior director, corporate ethics and compliance for Walmart, led a panel discussion on the Supplement Safety and Compliance Initiative, which includes new benchmarking guidance that is being embraced by the world’s largest retailers.

PRODUCT TESTING
FDA working toward validating DNA methods for finished products Significant progress continues to be made in fit-for-purpose DNA technology for the dietary supplements industry, according to an FDA research biologist, who has been working on using DNA identification for a number of years.

GLOBAL REGULATORY
Industry group despairs at 'disproportionate, senseless' measure put on CBD products The European Industrial Hemp Association has described regulatory measures taken against CBD-containing products as “disproportionate and senseless,” in moves that have bought “negative consequences.”

HEMP/CBD
UNFI restrictions on CBD topicals indicate retailers still cautious In April, United Natural Foods (UNFI)—a top dog as far as distributing to Whole Foods is concerned—announced it will cease to carry topical CBD products in Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Massachusetts and Texas due to state restrictions. UNFI didn’t rule out the possibility of kicking more states off its proverbial “okay-for-CBD” list, pending increased legislative clarity and/or changes.

GMOs
Synthetic biology is changing what we eat. Here’s what you need to know Plant-based versions of crowd favorites such as burgers, shrimp and cheese are seeing booming sales in restaurants and supermarkets and are largely made using synthetic biology. Synthetic biologists identify the gene sequences that give certain foods or fibers their inherent qualities.

Will gene-edited food be government regulated? Crops that have had their DNA tweaked with new gene-editing tools are entering the food supply. But governments are struggling to figure out how—or even whether—to regulate them.

UNPA MEMBER COMPANY NEWS
MegaFood announces D.C. rally to ban glyphosate On May 23, following a rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., supplement and vitamin brand MegaFood will deliver a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency calling to ban the use of glyphosate on consumer grade oats. With more than 80,000 signatures, the petition requests EPA to reduce the amount of glyphosate in oats and prohibit its use as a pre-harvest desiccant (drying agent) on the label of all glyphosate-containing products.

Trust Transparency webinar: How best practices and blockchain are delivering transparency in supplement supply chain As dietary and herbal supplement demand grows, so does the requirement for brands, consumers and regulators to better understand what is in our products. So how can you actually increase transparency to not only reduce risk but also build trust with customers and grow your business? Learn more in this Trust transparency and TagOne webinar on May 23.

POLICY
Denver first to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms Denver voters narrowly passed an initiative to all but legalize psychedelic mushrooms. The measure directs Denver police to ignore adult use of psilocybin. Last year, the FDA changed psilocybin’s designation to speed up the process for developing a medication containing the compound.

California to outlaw pesticide, chlorpyrifos, deemed harmful to children California state officials announced a state-wide ban on a pesticide blamed for harming brain development in babies. The widely used pesticide, chlorpyrifos, was discovered to be more dangerous than previously thought, while the EPA under President Trump has reversed the Obama Administration’s effort to phase it out.

INNOVATION
CBD alternative PEA-based ingredient takes aim at pain relief after CBD's novel food reclassification Uncertainty around CBD product status in the supplement sector has led to a reluctance to include CBD in supplements, says Innexus Nutraceuticals as it looks to push forward with its palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) CBD alternative.  

E-COMMERCE
Rapid product launches, better deals can help smaller firms compete with Amazon Being nimble can help companies effectively compete with Amazon, despite that company’s massive reach, the founder of an online supplement seller maintains.

Tespo launched its new Wi-Fi-enabled vitamin dispensing system and personalized pods Tespo launched its Tespo Connect smart vitamin dispenser and Tespo personalized vitamin and supplement pods on its site, GetTespo.com. The Wi-Fi enabled smart device encourages supplement use through its app, tracking and rewarding adherence.

MOU PARTNER NEWS
HPTLC Association Conference—Planar chromatography beyond the ordinary Hear from national and international experts on novel concepts and unique applications of HPTLC and its state in North American analytics at the first international HPTLC conference in the USA. The conference is jointly organized by the North American Chapter of the International Association for the Advancement of High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) and the Eastern Analytical Symposium in Princeton, N.J on November 18, 2019.

RETAIL
Bitcoin comes to Whole Foods, major retailers in a coup for digital currency A new partnership between payments startup Flex and digital currency company Gemini may be the first step toward widespread acceptance of cryptocurrency on the part of major retailers. Crate and Barrel, Nordstrom, Home Depot and Whole Foods Market are among the companies that will allow customers to use phone-based payments from their apps and from digital wallets, such as Apple Pay.

PHILANTHROPY
Vitamin Angels ranks among the top 4 percent most trustworthy charities Vitamin Angels is a recipient of its eighth four-star rating, the highest value score available, from Charity Navigator (CN), the nation's premier charity evaluator. CN assesses the financial health, accountability and transparency of more than 9,000 charities across America to provide donors with unbiased and transparent information to make informed charitable-giving decisions.

PERSONALIZED MEDICINE
Data: The new currency or controversy? Personalized nutrition firms need to improve the quality of their data collection protocols or risk worsening bias and societal inequalities, an expert has warned.

PERSONAL CARE
Sunscreen chemicals soak all the way into bloodstream Results of a small clinical trial show that contrary to what sunscreen manufacturers have been saying, UV-blocking chemicals present in sunscreens do seep into circulation. The results of the study, which were published in the journal JAMA, examined how four of the most common sun-filtering molecules on the market behave once they’ve been rubbed into skin.

Sunscreen does not compromise vitamin D levels, study shows The use of sunscreen on sunny days with a high UV index does not compromise vitamin D levels, according to researchers writing in the British Journal of Dermatology.

INDIAN MARKET
Driving India’s nutraceutical growth: New trade body launches website and names advocacy boards India's recently-formed Expert Nutraceutical Advocacy Council has launched its website and named its advocacy board members as it ramps up its mission to become an independent voice for the nutrition industry in the country.

MARKETING
Brands look to voice commerce With somewhere around a third of consumers owning a smart speaker, such as Amazon Echo or Google Home, brands are looking to voice as a way to improve conversion and drive revenue. Most business leaders (91 percent) are making significant investments in voice and 94 percent plan to increase their investment in the coming year, according to a survey of 400 business decision makers by Adobe Analytics.

MARKET RESEARCH
Imports still impress: Survey reveals Chinese consumers place premium on overseas supplements More than half (53.7 percent) of the Chinese consumers surveyed said they bought imported nutrition supplements, while only 7.9 percent preferred to buy local products, according to a white paper released by the Chinese Nutrition Society.

Herbal ingredients growing in joint health products Herbs and botanicals, in general, have been making their way into the joint health category, says Innova Market Insights, whose research shows a 25 percent average annual growth of bone and joint supplements that used botanicals between 2014 and 2018. Turmeric is among the fastest-growing ingredients in the category.

Millennials drive growth of non-pill supplement forms Millennials are working to stay viable in the fast-paced world, and they are looking for fun, tasty and convenient supplements to help themselves stay competitive, according to insights from the Natural Marketing Institute.
Millennials spend more in store than boomers Email marketers wondering who to target have the answer right in their hands. It’s millennials, according to a study by First Insight. Of members in that cohort in the U.S., 74 percent are likely to spend more than $50 on an in-store purchase, compared with 71 percent of Gen Xers and 65 percent of baby boomers.

RESEARCH
Personalized nutrition could boost clinical treatment and lower mortality rate Individualized nutrition not only helps patients consume more protein and calories but also improves clinical treatment outcomes and reduces mortality, according to a Swiss study of more than 2,000 patients.

Study shows relationship between vitamin K deficiency and arterial stiffness A study recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association examined how inactive desphospho‐uncarboxylated Matrix Gla protein (dp‐ucMGP) impacted cardiovascular risk, specifically the calcification of arteries. Matrix Gla protein is an inhibitor of arterial calcification that requires vitamin K-dependent activation.

'Cancer warrior' plants fight seven types of cancer The leaves of the Bandicoot Berry (Leea indica), South African leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) and Simpleleaf Chastetree (Vitex trifolia) have been found to be effective in stopping the growth of seven types of cancer, according to researchers from the National University of Singapore.  The study, published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, determined that the plants were effective against breast, cervical, colon, leukemia, liver, ovarian and uterine cancers.

Glucosamine tied to heart benefits Glucosamine, the dietary supplement widely used for arthritic pain, may reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease, researchers report. The study, in the British Journal of Medicine, tracked the participants’ health for an average of seven years and compared it with those who did not use the supplement. Glucosamine users had an 18 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease and a 15 percent lower risk of any cardiovascular event.

​FDA WARNING LETTERS & GUIDANCES
Current FDA enforcement actions and guidances Keep up to date on FDA’s current enforcement actions, including general warning letters, recall information and GMP compliance issues, with this link to FDA's website. 

Search and sign up for a variety of FDA Guidances.