Vitamins, Diet and Sports Nutrition

BALTIMORE — DSN visited the Baltimore Convention Center last week to check out the Natural Products Expo East. DSN reviews its top 10 new products from the show. 

The products identified below all have curb appeal, meaning they look like they'd fit in on a mass merchant's shelf and may serve a niche customer base that's shopping food, drug and mass outlets but not buying these specialty items, necessarily. 

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association on Tuesday commended California Gov. Jerry Brown for signing S.B. 465 into law, which clarifies the current state law on the use of empty space between the product and excess container capacity, commonly referred to as “nonfunctional slack fill.”

BOULDER, Colo. — Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy on Monday announced that it has served nearly 400,000 children through its partnership with Vitamin Angels. Donations have added up to $98,000 since the start of the partnership in 2004, enough money to serve more than 395,000 people.      

PITTSBURGH — Celebrity Chef Robert Irvine, along with nutritional products brand FortiFX, is pleased to announce the debut of a new line of six-layer baked meal-replacement bars — Fit Crunch Baked Bars — which are high in protein and low in sugar without compromising taste and texture.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. — Clif Bar introduced its newest seasonal flavor, pecan pie. Pecan pie brings together nuts and spices to create a traditional, nostalgic flavor reminiscent of the holidays. Made with organic ingredients specifically chosen by athletes and foodies in the Clif Kitchen, the recipe delivers nutrition for sustained energy, the company stated.

NEW YORK — Fruth Pharmacy is handing out free vitamins to elementary school students in a West Virginia county, according to published reports.

The Huntington, W.Va., Herald-Dispatch reported that Fruth president Lynne Fruth announced a plan to offer free vitamins to every elementary school student in Cabell County, W.Va., for the next 12 months.

The program was launched last year in conjunction with Mason Vitamins, serving about 2,000 students in economically depressed areas where Fruth operates, in Ohio and West Virginia, according to the newspaper.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Pharmagen on Thursday announced the launch of Clotamin, a unique multivitamin formulated without vitamin K in order to meet the special nutritional needs of people taking blood-thinning medications (anticoagulants), such as Warfarin. 

Because it does not contain vitamin K, Clotamin can be taken with Warfarin without affecting international normalized ratio levels. 

LEVERKUSEN, Germany — The board of directors of the World Self-Medication Industry on Wednesday named as its chair-elect Erica Mann, member of the Bayer HealthCare executive committee and president of Bayer HealthCare’s Global Consumer Care division. Mann will succeed current chair Zhenyu Guo, CEO, Dihon Pharmaceutical at the completion of his term in June 2014.