Vitamins, minerals and supplements are projected to take the natural and pharmaceutical industry to new heights of growth in the second half of 2015.

According to a press release by the Nutritional Business Journal, Florida, says that companies that sell products such as nutritional supplements, power bars and vitamins have seen strong fiscal growth in 2015.

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One such company, Axxess Pharma that develops a variety of supplements and specialty products through AllStar Health Brands Inc., has successfully completed a string of management projects. For them, 2015 has been a year of aggressive marketing and global approvals.

Alberta has recently added hemp to its collection of popular crops such as corn, sugar beets and potatoes.

In an article in The Lethbridge Herald, Dr. Jan Slaski, who is team lead in the crop development and management section of Ecosystems and Plant Sciences for Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, said that the hemp industry has been growing rapidly over the last five or six years, and last year, the crop yield exceeded 100,000 licensed acres.

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Most of this hemp is grown on the Prairies, and Slaski estimates that a quarter to a third of all hemp production in Canada comes out of Alberta. Some of this production is in part owing to efforts by companies such as Rowland Seeds in Taber. The company is growing about 8,000 acres of organic hemp per year.

Slaski also added that Canada is the largest hemp producer in the world, with China in close pursuit.

The natural health product industry isn’t the only one taking advantage of this golden crop, the textile industry is also setting foot into the field with a Quebec-based uniform manufacturer, Logistik Unicorp, is testing Alberta Innovates-grown hemp as a textile fibre.

Not only that, another company, Stemia, is planning on using hemp to make construction materials.

Distributors in the dietary supplement and natural health products business are now requiring higher liability insurance limits for their suppliers.

Good news is that insurance rates are now lower than they have been in a while.

Greg Doherty, a managing director of the dietary supplement practice group with the Pasadena, CA-based insurance firm Bolton & Co., shares that customers have told him that KeHE distributors are not asking for $5 million in liability insurance from suppliers.

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Doherty says he isn’t so sure if this is simply a knee-jerk reaction from all the bad press the industry has recently received as a result of the actions of the New York Attorney General.

Instead, he says, there are other factors driving the long-term trends in the insurance market and the underwriters have to manage the risk over years rather than responding to momentarily heightened elements such as bad press.

With up to 75 per cent of General Mills cereals bidding to be free of artificial ingredients by the beginning of next year, Lucky Charms and Trix will joining the line by the end of 2017.

The company says this move will not lead to a change in the way the cereals look or taste. They want to ensure that fun vibrant colours and the fruity flavour remain the same as children have come to expect of the brand.

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General Mills is the first major cereal company to have announced this move, but it is not the first food giant to do so. Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Subway have been making incremental changes in their menus to remove artificial ingredients. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Nestlé chocolate and Newcastle Brown Ale have also made similar moves over the past year.

As a nutritionist working with food stamp recipients says that removing GMOs doesn’t change calorie levels, neither does it it lower the nutrient level.

Eight unauthorized health products from Better Bodies Nutrition in Alberta have been seized by Health Canada.

The products that contain a combination of synephrine/ephedrine/ephedra, caffeine and L-dopa that can cause serious health risks among users, especially those are at risk for heart disease.

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The advisory specifies that those who have used any of the eight drugs listed below need to consult their physicians if they are experiencing any unusual symptoms.

Synephrine/ephedrine and caffeine, when combined, may cause serious and possibly fatal adverse effects. Ephedrine taken in combination with caffeine can cause symptoms ranging from dizziness, tremors, headaches and irregularities in heart rate to seizures, psychosis, heart attacks and stroke.

L-Dopa, also known as levodopa, is authorized as a prescription drug when combined with other drug ingredients in anti-Parkinson’s medications. Levodopa may interact with drugs prescribed for high blood pressure.

Products that have been duly removed from the retail location of Better Bodies Nutrition include, West Pharm ThermaLean (100 capsules), West Pharm Hydro-lean (160 capsules), Nutrex Research Hemo Rage Black flavours including Lunatic Lemonade, Apple Ambush, Bruisin’ Berry, Sucker Punch, Malicious Melon and Orange Creamation (265g).

Health Canada asks adverse events to to be reported and complaints to be filed by calling toll-free to 1-800-267-9675, or complete an online complaint form.