The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB) is referring advertising for the dietary supplement Colotox, from Phoenix-based Central Coast Nutraceuticals Inc.,

What do sibutramine, rimonabant, phenytoin and phenolphthalein have in common? You can find them spread among the 69 brands of weight-loss pills identified by the FDA.

A report published on the web site of the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), http://www.iatp.org indicates some well-known foods and drinks rich in high-fructose corn syrup may contain detectable levels of mercury.

After an FDA warning letter told True Renewal to either register its products with the agency or change claims on its Web sites, the supplement maker has altered product descriptions.

Tahitian Noni, the Utah based dietary supplement juice maker, has sued former MLM executive Robert Dean who allegedly jumped ship to work for a competitor. Tahitian Noni won a partial victory in a decision entered in federal district court in Utah. 

Nestled in the $800 billion-plus economic stimulus bills that Congress is considering are billions of dollars for non-profit research centers, universities and possibly private firms. The Chronicle of Higher Education breaks down the House and Senate bills into categories that range from NSF to NIH.

In a bizarre response to a citizen petition, the FDA has ruled that "pyridoxamine dihydrochloride or any other compound containing pyridoxamine" are not dietary supplements within the meaning as indicated by DSHEA, specifically Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FFDC) Act § 201(ff)  and "may not be marketed as such."

An indictment was unsealed Jan. 22nd charging 12 defendants, including three owners of a pharmacy and four pharmacists, with participating in a conspiracy that dispensed and sold thousands of dosages of anabolic steroids – including powerful veterinary steroids approved for animal use only – to users throughout the United States, announced DEA Resident Agent in Charge Thomas Wade and U.S.

The peanut butter/paste Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak has witnessed another functional food victim with the recall of GNC's Triflex peanut butter chews products. The recall is detailed on the FDA website here.  

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is revising its requirements for cochineal extract and carmine by requiring their declaration by name on the label of all food and cosmetic products that contain these color additives.

Or is it? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal cites several sources that say many of the health claims are exaggerated. The bacteria either don't do the job or the research is lacking to prove the claim.

In the conclusion to the FTC's follow-up action against Kevin Trudeau for making deceptive claims about his books, a federal judge has ordered Trudeau to pay more than $37 million for violating a 2004 stipulated order by misrepresenting the content of his book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About."

Back in September we reported on FTC action against companies allegedly selling bogus cancer cures.  To read our original post, click here. The FTC press release page on this matter lists the actions and contains links to the case files for each. 

A federal district court has ordered the marketers of three dietary supplements (Thermalean, Lipodrene, and Spontane-ES) to pay more than $15 million for deceiving consumers about the products’ safety and effectiveness.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed suit against Coke and Energy Brands claiming that the companies make deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on the VitaminWater line of beverages. 

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), a nanotechnology trade group, has released a report questioning the ability of FDA to regulate the safety of dietary supplements using nanomaterials. 

FoodProcessing.com weighs in on 2009 trends to watch for functional foods and nutraceutical ingredients in this comprehensive article. Included among the predicted trends: Fiber (according to National Starch Food Innovation) Vitamin K (according to PL Thomas) Phytochemicals Botanicals To read the article, click here.

The baseball players blame the manufacturer. The league blames the players. Who is accountable when a professional athlete takes a banned substance supposedly without knowing it?

The FDA is coming down hard on diet pills in the the most popular month for weight loss. The agency  has more than doubled its list of dangerous diet products, warning consumers not to ingest them.

The Better Business Bureau has issued a nationwide warning cautioning consumers to be suspicious of online ads relying on celebrity endorsements to sell acai berry-related weight loss products.