Chris Kilham, ‘The Medicine Hunter’, will join a panel of industry and regulatory experts at a conference on the future of Botanicals in London later this month.
As the global market for Botanicals continues to expand, recent reports have estimated that botanical food supplements make up 40% of the worldwide food supplement market. Closer to home, although the European market for botanicals continues to thrive, it is not immune to the regulatory challenges facing the industry. The latest conference from the Health Food Manufacturers’ Association (HFMA), ‘The Future for Botanicals’ will aim to examine the outlook for the botanicals market in Europe, as well as giving an insider’s view on navigating regulatory issues.
Speaking on the day will be HFMA Vice-President, Penny Viner, who is Chair of the UK’s Herbal Forum and adviser to the European Botanicals Forum (EBF) and who will set the scene with an overview of the industry and the prospective regulatory position. Following this, Chris Kilham, ‘The Medicine Hunter’ (pictured) (www.medicinehunter.com) will provide an inside track on plant-based herbal substances. Cynthia Rousselot, European Policy Director at the European Federation of Health Product Manufacturers (EHPM) will shed light on EHPM/EBF strategy, whilst the legal perspective will come courtesy of European food law expert Brian Kelly, Associate at Covington & Burling LLP. The Scientific Coordinator at PlantLIBRA, Patrizia Restani, will be sharing insights on the EU’s PlantLIBRA initiative, and botanicals expert Luc Del Mulle will be providing the Belgian perspective, along with Joris Geelen from the Dept of Health in Belgium.
In addition to gaining insights into areas such as legal status, quality, and the 2,000+ botanical health claims currently ‘on hold’ awaiting the European Commission’s decision as to how the review of botanical health claims should be conducted, there will be ample opportunity for discussion and to have all of your questions answered.
HFMA Executive Director, Graham Keen commented: “As an area which seems to only grow in importance due to the scale of the market for botanical food supplements and the rapidly changing legislative environment, this timely and topical conference will not only clarify some of the complex areas surrounding botanical health claims, but also provide practical advice from industry experts for people to take away. These are always popular events and places are going fast, so I’d recommend people reserve their places as soon as possible.”
The HFMA Conference, ‘The Future for Botanicals’ will take place on Tuesday 30th October 2012 at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, 2 Savoy Place, Westminster, London WC2R 0BL, between 10:30-16:00 (Registration is from 10.00)
• For further details, the full conference agenda or to reserve a place, please contact [email protected], phone 020 8481 7100 or visit www.hfma.co.uk.
