With the health and wellness industry still fairly young, it’s been an interesting ride for those who have been a part of it since infancy.

Sales have recently shown a 6.5 per cent value growth (fixed exchange rates) in 2011. Products specifying health benefits or those with widely known health properties drove value sales with rates above 7 per cent. The development in emerging markets, such as China and Brazil, has contributed US$15 billion in new sales that same year. Real term growth is expected to stay steady at 7.2 per cent, which will bring the global health and wellness sales to hit a record high of US$1 trillion by 2017.

With health awareness rising, it translates into substantial sales gains. According to a report from Euromonitor, “the Health and Wellness top 100 world ranking saw their sales rising by over US$100 million that year, a clear statement that combining four key factors: health, convenience, fashionable packaging and affordable price is the winning strategy behind some of the most spectacular health and wellness developments.”
They are also predicting that pharmaceutical companies will soon start grabbing attention: “Whilst the movement towards prevention grows, convergence of nutrition and ‘pharma’ is starting to attract attention of the big pharmaceutical players with substantial investments likely to follow.”
The health and wellness industry has been developing over the last few years and has been gaining momentum as people start to take notice. With Euromonitor’s recent research, it’s clear that this is the industry to be in!

Barbara’s is celebrating 45 great years in business. They’re well known for their Puffins Cereal, which launched in the 1990s, but they have continued to introduce some other amazing products over the years, including Snackimals and Better than Granola.

Barbara’s has remained committed to creating wholesome foods that parents and children both love—boasting a portfolio that is non-GMO certified. The company was founded in 1971 by 17-year-old Barbara Jaffe. Their humble beginning as a small organic bakery has evolved into a multi-million dollar company—which was aquired by Weetabix in 1986.
“Inspired by family and good health, Barbara Jaffe was a true role model for young people – founding this company with a vision and mission to craft products with the most honest ingredients. This pledge remains at the core of Barbara’s, and serves as our guiding principle when we’re on the on the lookout for innovative ways to bring more great-tasting options with excellent nutrition into the marketplace,” said Steve Van Tassel, CEO of Weetabix North America. “We’re honored to be able to say that over the last four decades, this commitment has never wavered and we look forward to maintaining our authenticity in the future.”

The food industry has been facing an alarming amount of bacterial infections caused by bypotentially lethal bacteria like Listera monocytogenes and E.coli. With over 65 recalls made by Health Canada since March, many companies, including many organic and health-conscious companies, are incurring heavy losses from the repeated recalls of their products. These companies include Kashi, CLIF Bar, Trader Joe’s, Cookin’ Greens Organic, and Organic by Nature, just to name a few.
Some of these products are top sellers among retailers, who also face the question that consumers have started asking: is any food safe?
Listeria is known to cause serious infections in children, weak or elderly people. It can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
E.coli is normally found in the intestines of animals—though can be contracted from raw vegetables. Healthy adults usually recover from infection, but young children and older adults have a greater risk of developing kidney failure.
The best way to ensure the health of your consumers is to communicate with your suppliers. You can also stay informed by checking the Health Canada recall list, as there have been updates almost daily, and your stock to verify whether you may have an infected SKU.

Now SISU transforms poorly-absorbed curcumin from a fat-soluble to a water-soluble phytonutrient, making it more active and delivering 185x better bioavailability and faster absorption than ever before. Unlike native curcumin, SISU starts with a 95% curcumin extract, then uses a unique technology to encapsulate it in “water-loving,” digestive micelles that the body readily allows to pass into the bloodstream. Just 40 mg of curcumin in one softgel delivers the equivalency of nearly 75 (100 mg) capsules of standardized curcumin extract.

Next month, changes will come into effect for certain products that fall under the Natural Health Product Regulations (NHPR), specifically homeopathic cough, cold and flu products for children 12 and under.

Under these regulations, Health Canada will no longer approve specific health claims on these products unless they are supported by scientific evidence. Additionally, it will require any labeling that suggests products of this sort are recommended for treating children 12 and under to be removed entirely. The deadline for these changes to be made is July 31, 2016.

Last year, Health Canada said that the current packaging for homeopathic products “may not be adequate for Canadians to make informed choices.” The Canadian Homeopathic Pharmaceutical Association (CHPA), however, said that these requirements are “a very serious mistake” and a direct contradiction to the widespread endorsement of homeopathic products.

The CHPA also had objections to Health Canada having released this policy decision without consulting “the CHPA, healthcare practitioner associations, consumer associations and other stakeholder associations whose views are normally sought in a transparent public consultation process.”

How will this affect the homeopathic industry?

Serena Yang, the marketing manager for PASCOE Canada, the Canadian Distributor of the homeopathic and phytotherapeutic lines of PASCOE Pharmazeutische Präparate GmbH, notes that this decision will definitely have financial repercussions. “We have to redo all of our marketing materials both online and offline, as well as reprint the packaging in Germany,” she says. “Also, we cannot promote our remedies to children under 12 years old any more, which will definitely affect our sales.”

Designs for Health, a professional brand of nutritional products offered exclusively to health care professionals and their patients, has announced the launch of Curcum-Evail™. This highly bioavailable curcuminoid formulation contains a unique combination of three bioactive, health-promoting curcuminoids: curcumin, bisdemethoxy curcumin and demethoxy curcumin, as well as turmeric oil.

The aforementioned curcuminoids are the strongest, most protective and best researched constituents of the turmeric root. Naturally occurring turmeric root powder contains only 5-7 per cent curcumin, while the blend in Curcum-Evail™ is concentrated to contain 95 per cent curcuminoids, which is made up of 70 per cent curcumin.

The crystalline structure of curcumin renders it difficult to absorb in the GI tract. As such, say researchers, “The potential health benefits of curcumin are limited by its poor solubility, low absorption from the gut, rapid metabolism and rapid systemic elimination.”

For this reason, Curcum-Evail™ is manufactured using the revolutionary new Designs for Health Evail™ process, which is an all-natural formulation that improves the absorption and delivery of curcumin. This process uses a proprietary blend of MCT oils, non-soy derived lecithin and vitamin E, without the use of potentially harmful surfactants. This delivery technology increases the absorption rate and reduces the absorption time for nutrients and allows for superior effects through lower dosages.

Curcum-Evail™ is anticicrobial, antioxidant and is a toxic metal chelator. If your patients require immune system regulation, GI protection and healing, cardiovascular protection, bile support or brain protection, consider this product as an option.

Following an EBM model, Dr. Emile Compan will be sharing his clinical experience and help you rediscover some of these often overlooked and forgotten fundamentals and the importance of restoring the patient’s acid-base homeostasis.

If you treat patients with chronic inflammatory or degenerative conditions, who are on protein pump inhibitors; are sleep deprived and live stressful lives, then this webinar is a must. Through simple lab tests and the use of Pascoe remedies you will discover how to quickly restore your patient’s acid-base homeostasis and help them on their journey to health.

Emile Compan BSc, ND graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) as a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. He attended both the University of Victoria and Concordia University in Montreal and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science with an emphasis in human physiology and histology.

Emile is also a cancer survivor and volunteered with a cancer survivor group called Hope and Cope based out of the Montreal Jewish General hospital for ten years. During that period he was a facilitator for the young adult group and had appeared on a number of TV programs, radio talk shows and published a number of articles.

For the past 15 years, Emile has a private practice in the Orleans area and is also currently working as a part time consultant at a local health food store called Pantry Plus. He has done extensive training on Pascoe products through participation in multiple lecture series in Germany and in Canada and is very experienced with using this type of natural medicine.

This free webinar will take place on Tuesday, June 21 at 8:00 p.m. EST.