Reuters reports that newly named Nestle CEO, Paul Bulcke, believes rapidly rising food prices will stabilize in the near future. He cites droughts, market speculation and booming interest in biofuels as global food variables that will change in favor of lower food prices. Bulcke also believes that food demand from emerging countries will not subside and continue to put pressure on global food supplies.

Sally Squires, a Washington Post Health & Nutrition columnist, published an investigation of probiotics today.

It’s a relatively well balanced piece citing reputable sources…..what a rarity!

Sally discusses the growing widespread use of probiotics, their exact undetermined definition, unknown side effects, dosage uncertainty and clear health benefits. It’s a worthy read for anyone needing to be knowledgeable of what the popular press is publishing about the nutrition industry.

Science is slowly catching up to consumer interest in dietary supplements. Thousands of consumer health websites, forums and blogs detail the ability of dietary supplements to cure and treat chronic and fatal diseases, but only a handful of studies have been released thoroughly testing the efficacy of dietary supplements to treat these diseases.

Today the Journal of the American Medical Association published a story on the treatment of Crohn’s Disease with Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

In this study, 188 patients received omega-3 fatty acids and 186 were given placebo. The study conclusion found: “In these trials, treatment with omega-3 free fatty acids was not effective for the prevention of relapse in Crohn disease.”

Early estimates by NBJ indicate that the omega-3 fatty acid market grew 25-30% in 2007, down slightly from 2006 growth levels, but well within expected ranges of new incremental sales. In foods, omega-3 fatty acids are receiving interest from food manufacturers, but savvy consumers realize that efficacious doses are difficult to achieve through food fortification alone…unless you choose to eat a fishmeal tortilla. Tasty.

The popular press regularly publishes investigative reports on the dietary supplement industry. Often they are of a critical slant. It’s not difficult to see why. The regulatory status of the dietary supplement industry is practically flimsy with a post-market regulatory structure but little funding to support oversight by the FDA. As a result, unscrupulous or honestly unaware manufacturers and marketers at times launch adulterated, unsafe and mislabeled supplement products into the market. Consumers play a role too. They believe what they want to believe - extrapolating curative effects from structure-function claims and anecdotal successes stories.

Today, the New York Times published an article exploring this three pronged problem that the dietary supplement industry struggles with. You may read the article titled, Potential for Harm in Dietary Supplements here.

I encourage your comments below.

-Patrick

Michael Pollan, author of “Omnivores Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food”, gave a riveting keynote speech at Natural Products Expo West 2008. I was fortunate to hear it in person, but if you were unable to make the Mr. Pollan’s speech, you’re in luck.

I am delighted to inform you that Michael Pollan has allowed New Hope to post his keynote address on www.expowest.com.

Click on the link by the words “audio recording” on this page

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Please feel free to comment on his speech via the comments function below.