USA
Austria’s Women’s Best enters Vitamin Shoppe nationally
US retail giant The Vitamin Shoppe announced it has signed an exclusive US retail deal with Women’s Best, an Austrian sports nutrition brand for women with a huge social media presence.
“Women's Best is the first company to carve out a strong position as a women's-focused brand in sports nutrition and will bring its innovative and inspiring message and products to our stores. This launch is a unique opportunity to further deliver on The Vitamin Shoppe's promise to help our customers become their best selves, however they define it,” said Sharon Leite, Chief Executive Officer of The Vitamin Shoppe, in a press release.
Commenting on the deal, Tom Morgan, senior market analyst at Lumina Intelligence, said: “Women's Best is the number one most reviewed women’s sports nutrition brand as of March 2019. They’ve been discussing breaking into the USA for a number of months now, conveyed through the website of their CEO David Kurzmann.
“Considering their significant social media clout, they are expected to enter the US market with a bang. Crossing over between sports nutrition and sports fashion, they capitalize on the fitness/beauty crossover category – important as sports nutrition moves away from its traditional hardcore male dominated roots.”
For more on this, please click HERE.
Europe
European experts agree on turmeric quality criteria
Ten experts from around Europe including doctors, biologists and chemists have published a consensus paper to clarify the quality, safety and efficacy of turmeric supplements.
The Advisory Board on the Quality of Botanical Supplements consensus paper states: “The quality of turmeric, like all botanical extracts, depends primarily on the quality of the raw material and the purity of the extract.
“The procedure that enables the plant to be unquestionably identified is by DNA analysis or barcoding of the plant itself. Furthermore, quality turmeric is free from contamination whether accidental or deliberate.”
On safety, the consensus paper states: “Based on scientific evidence it can be stated that the safety profile of turmeric is very high. As regards liver safety, curcumin has been studied all over the world for years in dozens of experimental models as a treatment for the protection of the liver against chemical damage, caused for example by alcohol abuse.
“In case of changes to the liver function, however, use of the product is not recommended.”
For efficacy, the experts noted that turmeric has poor water solubility and is difficult to absorb, therefore limiting its bioavailability. However, piperine has been shown to increase the bioavailability of curcumin and “improve the activity of the latter in the body, enhancing the amount of substance dissolved in the plasma and the extent of absorption.”
The paper also noted that one of the most innovative solutions for boosting curcumin bioabsorption is with a phytosome.
“The phytosome is a formulation developed by Indena to improve the bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profile of active compounds of natural origin using 100% food grade ingredients (lecithin),” wrote the experts.
For more on this story, please click HERE.
Asia
GNC hits Chinese pharmacies with four newly approved products
US supplement giant GNC has obtained the ‘blue-hat’ status in China for four of its products, which can now be sold in Chinese pharmacies.
The products include 1) a melatonin and vitamin B6 capsule, 2) a co-enzyme Q10 and natural vitamin E softgel, 3) a glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate and calcium capsule, and 4) a conjugated linoleic acid, green tea, and l-carnitine softgel.
GNC is partnering with Chinese pharmacy chain Renmintongtai to sell products.
Renmintongtai is owned by Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, which acquired a 40.1% equity stake in GNC in 2018.
The ‘blue-hat’ registration is a stringent and time-consuming process for health supplements to be sold in China via the brick-and-mortar retail route.
For more on this, please click HERE.
