UPDATE: According to a press release issued April 27 by The Cornucopia Institute, the USDA’s National Organic Program released a memo today (after the original publication of this blog post) saying that it would ban synthetic “accessory nutrients” from use in organic infant formula or baby food. An April 28 Washington Post article reported that the USDA will provide guidelines for how companies must phase out the additives in their organic products. The process could take more than a year.

Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is living up to promises that her agency, under the Obama Administration, will get tough on abuses involving the USDA organic seal. According to an April 26 Wall Street Journal article, Merrigan’s latest crackdown involves moving to ban synthetic versions of the fatty acids DHA and ARA from organic baby formula. Martek Biosciences Corp. is the largest supplier of synthetic fatty acids, and its DHA and ARA—sold under the life’sDHA and life’sARA brands—are found in more than 95% of all U.S. infant formulas, including organic formula sold under Abbott Lab’s Similac and The Hain Celestial Group’s Earth’s Best brands.

The USDA’s actions are in response to a legal complaint filed by the organic watchdog group The Cornucopia Institute to enforce federal organic standards prohibiting the use of certain unapproved synthetic substances in organic infant formula and other organic products. “Consumers rightfully expect organic foods to be purer and safer than conventional foods—in part because federal regulations require that they be free from potentially harmful synthetic additives,” said Charlotte Vallaeys, farm and food policy analyst with The Cornucopia Institute. “But in the case of the synthetic, chemically extracted additives DHA and ARA, the system of federal regulations ensuring organic integrity was undermined by corporate lobbying and backroom deals during the Bush Administration.”

Although the USDA is not challenging the safety of synthetic fatty acids, the agency has decided that the organic regulators in 2006 should have sought public comment when they decided to include synthetic versions of DHA and ARA on a list of nonorganic ingredients that can be used in products carrying the USDA organic seal. “We don’t want an industry that acted in good faith to be harmed,” Merrigan told the Wall Street Journal. “On the other hand, we have a rule to uphold.”

Merrigan said the USDA will issue a draft guidance on the issue later this year that would provide food manufacturers a grace period to reformulate their organic food products. Once the draft guidance is issued, public comment will be collected for 60 days and then the USDA will issue a final ruling, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Martek’s life’sDHA is also found in other organic products, including WhiteWave’s Horizon Organic Milk Plus DHA. The company’s synthetic fatty acids, which have been on the market since 2002, are extracted from microorganisms using hexane, a non-organic chemical that is frequently used in the production of cooking oils but that has been banned from use in organic food products.

In its complaint to the USDA, the Cornucopia Institute cited reports of babies being sickened by the synthetic fatty acids added to infant formula. Martek spokeswoman Cassie France-Kelly told Nutraingredients-usa.com earlier this month that “there has been no statistical rise in the number of adverse events” since Martek’s ingredients were introduced into infant formulas in 2002. “The fact is babies get sick, some react to infant formula yes, but that could be milk proteins or other ingredients,” France-Kelly said. “To link these ailments with the presence of omega-3s and omega-6s is spurious at best.”

Numerous studies have demonstrated the health benefits of omega-3s and omega-6s for infants, although The Cornucopia Institute said it rejects such findings. “Two recently published comprehensive scientific review studies on the topic both substantiate Cornucopia’s findings that challenge these claims,” the watchdog group wrote in a April 21 press release. “These two meta-analysis studies collectively consider the results of 18 clinical trials, and conclude there are no proven benefits to DHA/ARA supplementation in infant formula.”

In 2009, U.S. consumer sales of organic formula totaled $64 million, according to Nutrition Business Journal estimates. France-Kelly told the Wall Street Journal that a ban of its synthetic ARA and DHA from organic products “wouldn’t have a material impact” on Martek’s financial results because the company primarily sells its ingredients for use in conventional products.

NBJ is interested in your thoughts on this issue. Should synthetic fatty acids be banned from organic baby formula? Does such a move strengthen the integrity of the USDA organic seal, or does it hurt consumers by forcing them to choose between buying organic formula and formula that has been supplemented with the fatty acids that many parents believe are important to their babies’ health?

Related NBJ links:

2010 Organic Foods, Beverages and Personal Care

Martek Strengthens its Hold on Baby Formula Supply Market

2009 Raw Material & Ingredient Supply Report

When it comes to dietary supplement sales, receiving the nod of approval from doctors and other healthcare practitioners can mean all the difference in the world. In fact, 44% of supplement companies rated the importance of healthcare practitioner recommendations as either “critical” or “very important” to the success of their sales in Nutrition Business Journal’s recent survey of 137 companies selling directly to consumers. Earning the trust of healthcare professionals is viewed as so important that numerous supplement companies have built businesses around solely selling through these individuals—and, as NBJ explores in our 2010 MLM and Practitioner Sales issue, the practitioner channel performed particularly well in 2009, even in the face of the economic downturn. “I believe the healthcare practitioner channel is going to be one of the most vibrant and fastest-growing sales channels in the nutrition industry over the next 10 years,” said Kyle Bliffert, president of Pure Encapsulations, which sells its 350 hypoallergenic supplement products only through practitioners.

In an effort to better understand the practitioner sales channel for supplements and other nutrition products, NBJ surveyed 600 naturopathic physicians, nutritionists, chiropractors, medical doctors and other healthcare practitioners regarding their attitudes and practices related to dietary supplement recommendations and sales. The survey ran in March 2010 and received distribution support from the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, Pure Encapsulations, Emerson Ecologics and others.

Among other things, the survey found that 76% of the practitioners surveyed sell supplements in their offices. In addition, nearly 70% of NBJ’s survey respondents reported being “very knowledgeable” about supplements and how they can be used to support their patients’ health. Said one MD who participated in the survey: “My patients want supplements, and I want to give them high-quality professional supplements that I know and trust. Selling supplements also helps augment my income.”

A full analysis of our practitioner survey results is available to NBJ subscribers and will publish in our next issue (which will hit mailboxes later this week). Order a copy of the issue or subscribe to the journal via the NBJ Website.

NBJ will also present the findings from the survey and a sales and growth analysis of the healthcare practitioner channel during our 2010 Practitioner Supplement Sales Web Seminar on May 27.

Related NBJ links:

2010 Practitioner Supplement Sales Web Seminar

2009 Direct Selling in the Nutrition Industry

Fitzgibbon: Research Bar Being Raised for Supplements

Processed food has become synonymous with the Western diet—and, although their products are generally healthier than the conventional potato chips and toaster pastries sold to Americans, natural & organic food companies are playing a part in enabling U.S. consumers to easily choose packaged options laden with fat, sugar and salt over healthier fresh foods.

According to an April 4 New York Times article, Americans consume 31% more packaged food than fresh food and much more processed food than people from nearly every other country in the world. The average American eats a total of 787 pounds of packaged foods, such as frozen meals, condiments, soups and baked goods, while consuming only 602 pounds of fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs, nuts, beans, meat, poultry and fish. On average, Spain, France and Mexico also each consume more packaged than fresh food per capita. In comparison, the average Chinese citizen eats 1,034 pounds of fresh foods and 116 pounds of packaged foods.

Of course, eating a diet made up predominantly of what celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has termed “processed crap” often leads to obesity and a cascade of serious, long-term health maladies, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. “Processed foods contain large amounts of fat, salt and sugar, and Americans have become addicted to them,” T. Colin Campbell, a nutritionist at Cornell University, told the New York Times. “There is a lot of money tied up in the [packaged food] industry because it is profitable for companies to make these foods.” Americans also gravitate toward processed food because it is convenient and fits into a non-stop lifestyle that is spent in the car or in front of the computer or TV.

If you attended this year’s Natural Products Expo West tradeshow, you know the natural & organic food industry—like the overall U.S. food industry—is all about packaged convenience. I was amazed at the number of products designed to help people consume more antioxidants and other nutrients associated with fruits and vegetables without having to actually eat a fresh fruit or vegetable.

Although most of the natural & organic products sold in the United States are much healthier than their conventional counterparts, the industry is still guilty of peddling food and beverage products that are contributing to—rather than helping to prevent—America’s health crisis. This was a point Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey lamented last summer when he acknowledged that his company now sells “a bunch of junk”—or in other words, food that, while natural or organic, is still loaded with fat, sugar and salt.

Whole Foods’ new campaign to “Retake Our Plates!”—which is devoted to encouraging food system reform and educating consumers on how to make healthier food choices—is certainly a step in the right direction. But this and other natural food retailers and really the entire natural & organic industry must do more to clean up the products they are selling to American consumers. And, at some point, rather than spending oodles of money to position highly processed food as being more nutritious, wouldn’t it be better to simply encourage people to enjoy the taste and goodness of fresh food?

As more consumers wise up to the fact that they are what they eat, those companies and retailers that can provide truly healthy alternatives that incorporate fresh over processed whenever possible will be in a good position to boost their bottom lines while helping the United States cope with its ballooning health crisis.

Related NBJ links:

March 2010: Organic Foods, Beverages and Personal Care

Much Work Remains in U.S. Diabesity War, Author Says

2010 Functional Food and Beverage Web Seminar

Renegade Lunch Lady Takes on School Lunch Programs