Vitamins, Diet and Sports Nutrition

EMERYVILLE, Calif. - Clif Bar on Tuesday introduced the category-first Clif Nut Butter Filled Energy Bar in four new flavors: chocolate hazelnut butter, chocolate peanut butter, coconut almond butter and peanut butter.

Each bar offers for the first time a nut butter filling inside an energy bar. Delivering sustained energy by combining two great energy foods – nut butter and an organic energy bar – helps slow the release of carbohydrates to working muscles, making Clif Nut Butter Filled a good choice for lower-intensity adventures.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - BiPro USA on Monday announced that it has signed basketball sharpshooter Rachel Banham to an endorsement deal. Banham started using BiPro last year while rehabbing from a torn meniscus and torn anterior cruciate ligament.

"Nutrition is very important to me," Banham said. "Having other injuries in the past, it's been huge for me to stay healthy. Drinking BiPro is really going to help extend my career and help me be able to play basketball for as long as I can."

WOONSOCKET, R.I. - CVS Pharmacy on Tuesday unveiled plans to improve its convenient food offerings with healthier foods and beverages across more than 2,900 locations, up from an inititial 500 pilot stores announced last year. Throughout the year, 100 stores each week are being enhanced with a carefully curated selection of national and niche better-for-you brands that make healthier eating on-the-go, convenient and affordable.

NEW YORK - More than eight in 10 affluent Americans are interested in health and wellness products and services, with 54% interested in "luxury" health and wellness offerings, according to a recent report released by Robb Report. The proportion was even higher (66%) among the "Wealthy" demographic (annual household income above $500,000).

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. - Optimum Nutrition on Friday announced the newest addition to its Gold Standard line of sports nutrition products – Gold Standard BCAA. Each serving of the powder contains five grams of BCAAs to help kick-start protein synthesis, along with a blend of electrolytes, rhodiola and Wellmune, to support intense workouts.

"With each product added to the Gold Standard line, Optimum Nutrition sets a new bar for performance sports nutrition," stated Saverio Spontella, director of North America marketing for Optimum Nutrition.

DUBLIN  - Perrigo on Monday announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its U.S. vitamins, minerals and supplements business to International Vitamin Corporation.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by early August.

LAVAL, Quebec -- Valeant Pharmaceuticals on Thursday announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Bausch + Lomb launched the new PreserVision AREDS 2 Formula + Multivitamin.  

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association on Thursday elected Jeff Needham as chairman of the CHPA Board of Directors at its June meeting. Needham serves as EVP and general manager of U.S. Consumer Healthcare for Perrigo Company, the nation’s largest manufacturer of over-the-counter private label products for the store brand market.

Needham succeeds Patrick Lockwood-Taylor, who was previously VP of Personal Health Care North America and Global Digestive Wellness at Proctor & Gamble.