Jon Benninger, Director of Business Development
(480) 990-1101 ext. 1108
jonb@vpico.com
09/04/2008
Indian government calls JAMA article on heavy metals in Ayurvedic products "seriously flawed"
The Indian government issued a press release criticizing the recent JAMA article about heavy metals in Ayurvedic products as "seriously flawed" and said that the author displayed "strong bias against Ayurvedic medicines." Click here to read the press release. To read the abstract of the JAMA article, click here. The JAMA article concluded that 1/5 of Ayurvedic medicines purchased on the internet contained detectable lead, mercury or arsenic. The Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturer's Association (ADMA) also responded. In an article that appeared in Business Standard, ADMA general secretary Ranjit Puranik said that the authors were consciously maligning Ayurveda's reputation (click here for article). ADMA and Mr. Puranik were my gracious hosts for my recent visits to India, and I can attest to their professionalism, commitment to science and qualilty, and integrity. It appears that India and the Ayurvedic industry are prepared to defend themselves against what they assert to be unfair charges. Mr. Puranik will be at SupplySide West Oct 22-24 with other colleagues from India, and this issue will surely be a hot topic of discussion.
AOAC/NIH/FDA call for analytical methods for turmeric, black cohosh, B12, B6
Under a new contract from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), AOAC is charged with validating the best analytical methods for turmeric/curcuminoids, black cohosh, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. AOAC is asking industry to submit analytical methods for these materials by Nov. 1. Interested parties can contact Bob Rathbone, AOAC Senior Director of Publications & Method Validationn at rrathbone@aoac.org. Under the previous NIH/FDA contract, AOAC validated methods for 15 dietary supplement ingredients, including chondroitin, CoQ10, ginkgo, ginseng, SAMe, saw palmetto, lycopene and others.
New report tells FDA that animal supplement regs are "in disarray"
A new report prepared for the FDA by the National Research Council says that the regulation of animal supplements is "in disarray" and calls for "clear and precise regulations" and an improved adverse event reporting system. To read an article about the new report in Science Daily, click here. The report also assessed whether the addition of lutein, evening primrose oil or garlic to the diets of horses, dogs or cats could cause adverse health effects. The report concluded that there was inadequate data to determine safe upper limits for the supplements. To view a more detailed summary of the report, click here. The full 260-page report can be ordered at this website. Animal nutrition is a new focus at SupplySide West Oct 22-24 in Las Vegas. We have added education sessions on the topic, and we are aggressively marketing to the pet food/supplement and animal feed industries with ads in trade magazines, email campaigns, etc.
