Workshop Summary

As of 11/04/09

Energy Shots and Beverages: Growth, Innovation, Safety and Regulation Pre-Conference Workshop
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 8:30-11:30am
Location: Congress Center, Casanova 605, Level 1

Workshop Leaders

Mark Blumenthal, Founder and Executive Director, American Botanical Council (ABC); Editor, HerbalGram and HerbClip
Tom Vierhile, Director – Product Launch Analytics, Datamonitor
Anthony Young, Esq., Partner, Kleinfeld, Kaplan & Becker LLP

Session Descriptions

Ingredients Typically Found in Energy Shots
There has been phenomenal market growth for energy drinks and so-called energy “shots” in the past few years. These drinks/shots invariably contain either a relatively strong level of pure caffeine and/or herbs containing caffeine (e.g., guarana, green tea, yerba mate’ extract, etc…) as well as the amino acids taurine and carnitine, among others. Many of these products also claim to contain various levels of Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) and other herbal extracts, plus vitamins like B12 and inositol as well as other specialty dietary ingredients. This presentation will focus on ingredients in a variety of these products, the known physiological effects of each ingredient as shown in published studies on various intake levels, their relative safety (or potential toxicity), as well as the issue of dosages in these products (when known).

Speaker: Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director, American Botanical Council; editor, HerbalGram and HerbClip

Fighting Consumer Fatigue: Energizing Foods, Beverages and Supplements to the Rescue
Consumers are increasingly burning the candle at both ends. Expanded workplace demands paired with an ever-growing array of leisure activities during free time have elevated consumer stress and fatigue while depressing energy levels. Add to this the pressures of a recessionary environment that is knocking the work-life balance even more out of kilter, and you have the ingredients for a fertile market for food, drink and supplement products aimed at providing an energy boost. But despite everything, the energy-boosting products market has still only achieved limited penetration into the consumer market. This presentation will attempt to explain why this is the case. It will also identify energy-related concerns, differences between attitudes and behaviors as well as demographic variations in energy-producing products. This presentation will also include a look at global product innovations in energizing foods, beverages and supplements, while identifying recent trends including heightened interest in products with natural ingredients as well as slow-release energizers.

Speaker: Tom Vierhile, director – product launch analytics, Datamonitor

A Regulatory Overview of Energy Shots and Beverages in the U.S. and Europe
Energy shots and functional beverages for energy and other purposes have achieved market acceptance and are a growing segment of the functional food market. These products come with a variety of legal issues that vary in complexity depending on ingredients, claims and whether the product is a food or a dietary supplement. Knowing and then navigating the U.S. FDA and FTC issues and the European Food Standards Authority and other regulatory requirements is an important first step to assure product success is not followed by a regulatory mid-course correction.

Speaker: Anthony Young, Esq., partner, Kleinfeld, Kaplan & Becker LLP

Speaker Biographies

Mark Blumenthal, Founder and Executive Director, American Botanical Council (ABC); Editor, HerbalGram and HerbClip
Blumenthal is the founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council (ABC), an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to disseminating accurate, reliable and responsible information on medicinal plants. Blumenthal is the editor of HerbalGram, an international, peer-reviewed quarterly journal, and HerbClip, ABC’s reviews of recent scientific literature on herbs. He is the senior editor of three reference books: The Complete German Commission E Monographs – Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines, Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs and The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs, and co-author of Rational Phytotherapy, 5th ed.

Tom Vierhile, Director – Product Launch Analytics, Datamonitor
Vierhile is the director of Datamonitor's Product Launch Analytics, the 2009 successor to the Productscan Online database of new products, now fully integrated with Datamonitor’s Consumer Products Knowledge Center. He has more than 20 years of experience in consumer packaged goods reporting and analysis. Vierhile is an internationally recognized expert on new product marketing and has made television and/or radio appearances on CNN, PBS, the BBC and Fox News Channel. Additionally, publications like USA Today and The Wall Street Journal frequently call upon Vierhile for his views on new product launches and packaged goods trends.

Anthony Young, Esq., Partner, Kleinfeld, Kaplan & Becker LLP
Young is a partner with Kleinfeld, Kaplan and Becker LLP, where he has counseled and represented domestic and foreign manufacturers with respect to compliance and defense of matters under the statutes enforced by FDA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, FTC, DEA and EPA for over 30 years. He has a diversified litigation and legislative practice from a regulatory, litigation and product liability perspective. Young has counseled companies with respect to all forms of regulatory filings with FDA, including GRAS (generally recognized as safe) notifications, new dietary ingredient notifications, and 510(k) notifications for medical devices. He serves as general counsel to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA). Young helped form, and serves as general counsel to, the National Association of Free Clinics, the non-profit association of free clinics.

Registration Fee*

*Access to this Pre-Conference Workshop requires the purchase of an event ticket in advance or at the door. Registration includes continental breakfast and a conference workbook.