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John Tood General Manager at Lamberts Healthcare Ltd Member of the HFMA council. |
I’m always rather troubled when I hear people in our industry saying that recent legislation has driven out our ability to innovate. I guess wtat they mean is that they would lake a tree hand to launch new nutrients, or new compounds, like we used to in the past. However, scientifically speak ing. it seems to me very unlikely that there are any maior ‘new’ nutrients to be discovered. And whilst I accept that some innovation is possible In the presentation of existing nutrients, these are relatively modest advances compared to the fantastic choice of Ingredients we already have.
So I think tnat the best innovation we can aim for as an industry is in the delivery of compelling, balanced and relevant information about individual nutrients and the fantastic health ben efits they can bring to our consumers.
Take vitamin ) as an example. A few years ago this was possibly one of onn .odd 9nri marag.r of Lambwts Heahhc.rc d. m.mb., 04 ah. rÌÅ çounc the most boring nutrients which only made an appearance in multivitamins or in cod liver oil. Its most Interesting features were that it is ‘fat soluble’, can be made In the skin and can pre vent rickets – none of which propelled it to stardom!
But now look at it — it’s headline news, even with GPs. and its reputa tion, quite rightly, continues to grow. In fact it’s given our industry a great boost, and what I love about this ‘s that the one thing that didn’t change through all of the excitement was the actual nutrient itself — it’s still just vitamin D3, the same good old vitamin 1)3 we’ve known about for decades.
Well, I’m happy to admit that in no way did I predict the rise of vitamin D to ‘hero’ status. So I’m going to try to predict the next blockbuster, and for me the choice is easy: magne sium. As with vitamin D we know that magnesium is involved in hundreds of metabolic processes, it’s well known that a large proportion of diets are deficient, and there’s plenty of data on the health problems those deficiencies can cause. It’s also a massive product in many EU countries, and even the EFSA-approved claims are great. So why can’t I find a single credible, af fordable magnesium product in my lo cal health store? It’s a mystery to me!
Anyway, when magnesium finally has its day, please remember where you heard it first! And If you’ll allow me to spread my bets. I’ll also put some money on vitamin 812 ..,
