The global manufacturing and economic slowdown will hit the specialty chemicals market this year, as spending declines 4% to $451 billion worldwide this year.
In a recent report, analysts at SRI Consulting forecast that “these economic conditions will continue until sometime in 2010 and then gradually improve…The specialty chemicals market in 2010 is estimated to reach about the same size as in 2008 and then gradually climb during the next three years to reach $530 billion in 2013.”
SRI says the specialty chemicals end-use segments that have been hard hit by the …

International Standards-Setting Group Holds Seminar at CPhI China to Help Chinese Manufacturers Compete in a Skeptical Global Market
Shanghai (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) — To help Chinese manufacturers address worldwide concerns about the quality of medicines and food ingredients, the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention is holding a seminar on methods to demonstrate the quality of ingredients and finished products. Held in conjunction with the CPhI China Show on June 23, 2009, at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, USP’s seminar will focus on specific programs to help earn buyers’ confidence in product quality. …

A half-century-long debate came to an end Friday when President Barack Obama signed a bill that will take the mystery out of cigarette ingredients and give the government more control over the tobacco industry.
The law puts tobacco products under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Tobacco products soon will include a complete list of ingredients, and tobacco manufacturers will no longer be allowed to sell candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes, based on provisions in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
The measure for the first time will …

Canadians want access to healthier enriched foods but bureaucracy is getting in the way, says a food industry spokesperson.
Speaking at the Food Meets Function conference in London yesterday, Derek Nighbor, of Food and Consumer Products of Canada, said Canadian consumers are interested in health-promoting food such as vitamin-enriched drinks, probiotic yogurt and omega-3 eggs. But, he said, innovation is being held back by Canada’s rigid regulatory system.
“We are falling behind the rest of the world. We have aging, educated consumers who want access to healthier products that are available elsewhere …

(NaturalNews) Two foods commonly eaten as part of the traditional Chinese diet can reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer by as much as 90 percent, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Western Australia in Perth, and published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Researchers compared consumption of mushrooms and green tea between two groups of Chinese women, one with breast cancer and one without. They found that women who ate at least 10 grams (0.35 ounces) of fresh mushrooms per day had a 64 percent …