HEALTH



It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It’s that kind of Dickensian double-speak that personifies the tone of the holiday forecasts this year — forecasts that have really been all over the board.

Sam’s Club has been on a roll the past few years, and an emphasis on health-and-wellness categories has figured prominently into the warehouse club operator’s improved performance.


Safe and effective. Those are the selling points that homeopathy has been emphasizing with mass consumers, and it’s working. Sales of homeopathic products as measured by SPINSscan across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart) were up 16%, reaching a sales base of $126.1 million. That’s 2.5 times larger than the natural channel, where consumers actually place the fact that a medicine is homeopathic higher up on their 
decision matrix.


LOS ANGELES — To help under-the-weather junior, Hyland’s has rebranded its pediatric line of products Hyland’s Baby. Hyland’s cough-cold liquid offerings are trending at 76.5% growth to $2.6 million for the 12 weeks ended Oct. 30, 
according to SymphonyIRI Group across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart).


MIAMI — Winn-Dixie’s latest transformational remodel in Miami is a store of the future with a merengue twist, featuring a strong Hispanic influence.

In addition to bilingual signage, Winn-Dixie incorporates the regional flair with features like a full-service Cuban café replete with such Spanish pastries as empanadas, as well as a wide variety of Hispanic products.

MIAMI — Navarro Discount Pharmacy, a Hispanic-owned pharmacy chain and an MBF Healthcare portfolio company, has opened its 30th store in Homestead in the Homestead Pavilion Shopping Center.

HILLSBORO, Wis. — At the request of the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. marshals on Thursday seized all dietary supplements manufactured by Syntec because of false claims made about the safety and effectiveness of their supplements in treating a number of diseases.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association and the Council for Responsible Nutrition on Friday jointly filed comments with the Food and Drug Administration seeking withdrawal of its New Dietary Ingredient Draft Guidance, and calling upon the agency to work with stakeholders on a revised version that will maintain the current scope and intent of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.