Insights

What UK law requires before a shelf-stable ready meal goes on sale: registration or approval, HACCP, a validated heat process for low-acid meals, labelling and HFSS rules, and how the four nations differ....

Dried ashwagandha roots, a bowl of root powder, herbal capsules in a dish and a jar, a mortar and pestle and laboratory glassware on a wooden bench

05 Nov

Herbal Product Development Process: Seven Stages From Plant to Shelf (India, 2026)

in What Science Can Do

The herbal product development process in seven stages for India, from claim and regulatory route to extract specification, identity testing, dose, stability, scale-up and label, with links to each deep-dive in the series....

Bottled orange, red and green functional drinks with fresh fruit, test tubes of coloured liquids, a flask and a formulation checklist on a clipboard in a lab

05 Nov

How to Formulate a Functional Beverage: From Target Profile to Shelf-Stable Batch (2026)

in What Science Can Do

A five-step guide to formulating a functional beverage for the US: target profile and claim route, actives and overage, the base, the process rule (21 CFR 113, 114 or 120) and end-of-shelf-life stability, then scale-up....

Brass balance scale with a mortar and herbs on one pan and a jar of herbal capsules on the other, beside ashwagandha roots, root powder, capsules and a compliance checklist on a clipboard

03 Nov

AYUSH Licence vs FSSAI: Choosing the Right Route for a Herbal Product in India (2026)

An AYUSH licence is a state drug licence for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani medicines; herbal supplements sit under FSSAI with a central licence. How the claim decides the route, with an ashwagandha capsule example....

Premature baby in a hospital incubator beside a magnified view of gut bacteria, probiotic bottles, capsules and powder, and an FDA building with a red warning sign

02 Nov

FDA’s Probiotic Warning for Preterm Infants: What Happened and Lessons for US and EU Product Makers

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In 2023 the FDA linked a hospital probiotic to a preterm infant's death, sent warning letters to Infinant Health and Abbott, and two products were recalled. What the FDA established, what is unknown, and what...

Blue, black and red energy drink cans with guarana, ginseng and mint beside a gavel, clipboard, UAE and GCC flags and a Gulf map, with the Dubai skyline behind

31 Oct

Energy Drink Regulations in the UAE and GCC: Caffeine Limits, Labels, Age Rules and Tax (2026)

Energy drink regulations in the UAE and GCC rest on GSO 1926: caffeine of 145–320 mg/L, fixed warnings and separate shelving, plus an under-16 sales ban in the UAE, Saudi advertising limits and 100% excise....

Probiotic capsules and powder beside a magnified view of rod-shaped bacteria, agar plates with colonies and a laboratory microscope with sample tubes

31 Oct

CFU Meaning in Probiotics: How Counts Are Tested and Labelled in the US and EU

in What Science Can Do

CFU counts the probiotic cells that can still grow on a plate. How plate counts and flow cytometry (AFU) differ, why counts fall below label even before expiry, and how CFU is declared in the...

Yoghurt, kefir, berries, sauerkraut and probiotic capsules on a counter in front of an EU flag and a glass parliament building, beside a gavel on a law book with EU and US desk flags

31 Oct

Probiotic Claims in the EU and US: Can You Say “Probiotic” on a Label? (2026)

In most of the EU, “probiotic” is treated as an unauthorised health claim; in the US, the benefit statement is what is regulated. What each market lets you put on the label, and how to...

Bottles of red, orange and green juice beside fruit, with a magnified circle showing budding yeast cells next to a bulging bottle and a laboratory microscope

30 Oct

Slimsy Squash Recall: Swollen Bottles, Spoilage Yeast and How Formulators Prevent It

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