International News

France is currently debating what form a new food and drug police force will take. The government would like to set up agencies for pharmaceuticals and for foods, plus an agency for overall health and environmental issues, whereas the Secretary of State for Health Bernard Kouchner wants a single agency modeled on the U.S. FDA.

Two out of every three Germans prefer herbal remedies to synthetic drugs, making Germany responsible for 45% of the total European market for herbal remedies, according to the Allensbach Institute, a polling organization. The EU accounts for 46% of the world’s herbal-remedy sales, spending about $5.5 billion a year on such products, according to the Institute for Medical Statistics in Frankfurt. Sales of herbal products in Germany reached DM2.5 billion, or about $1.39 billion, up 14% from DM2.2 billion in 1994, said the Institute for Medical Statistics in Frankfurt.

A trading market for organic rice and vegetables is set for launch on the Internet Jan. 1, 1998, Nippon Field Science Association officials in Tokyo say. Producers can register their address, planting areas, produce grown and harvest schedule. The Association predicts annual trade of $49 billion within five years.

Caraloe Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Carrington Laboratories Inc. (CARN), formed a strategic alliance with Aloe Commodities International and Nu Skin International to manufacture and deliver a nutritional aloe vera beverage to consumers in Japan. The beverage is the first of many products planned for introduction in the Pacific Rim.

Exports of traditional Chinese medicines increased in the first eight months of this year, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. The country exported, among other items, $20.04 million worth of American ginseng, up 4% from the same period in 1996; $2.29 million of Chinese angelica, up 2%; and $10.9 million of Chinese caterpillar fungus, up 7%. Export sales of medicated wines containing herbal medicine decreased, but the overall value of the product increased by 37% to $7.68 million.

Novartis AG (NVTSY) Chairman Daniel Vasella said the company will develop a range of health food products under brand names such as Wasa, Isostar and Ovomaltine and already has set up several project groups of medical researchers and nutrition experts.

Pfanstiehl Laboratories of France finished building a new facility in Waukegan, IL, that will produce 3 million to 4 million kg. per year of creatine monohydrate, a nonessential amino acid used to improve athletic performance.