TWINLAB's NUVEG VEGETARIAN CAPSULE LINE ADDS 20 NEW HERBAL PRODUCTS

TWINLAB's NUVEG VEGETARIAN CAPSULE LINE ADDS 20 NEW HERBAL PRODUCTS slated to arrive on health food store shelves by mid-to late August. Marketed by Nature's Herbs, a Twinlab affiliate, the NuVeg herbal line will be promoted in trade journals beginning in September. Consumer print ads are expected to appear in October in magazines such as Longevity, Let's Live, New Age Journal, Natural Health, Delicious and Better Nutrition. Melville, N.Y.-based Greenstone Roberts Advertising is handling the account. The NuVeg herbal product offerings include: Cayenne; Yucca Stalk; Valerian Root; Siberian Ginseng Root; Saw Palmetto; Pau d'Arco Inner Bark; Horsetail Grass; Ginger Root; Eyebright Herb; Echinacea angustifolia Root; Chinese Dong Quai Root; and dried Cranberry Juice Concentrate. Herb combinations in the line include Arth Plus; Bilberry Power; Cayenne-Golden Seal; Enchinacea-Golden Seal; Ginseng-Damiana; Ginseng-Gotu Kola; Hawthorn Combination; and Red Clover Combination. The 20-product herbal line brings to 31 the number of products that are available in Twinlab's NuVeg vegetarian dosage form, a delivery system heralded by the firm as "the first all-natural source, all-vegetable capsule derived from potato and tumeric." In March, Twinlab introduced six vitamin/mineral products under its own name and five herbal products under the Nature's Herbs name that incorporate the NuVeg technology. These products include Daily Multi, E-400, B-Complex, C-500, Beta-Carotene, Ginseng, Echinacea, Golden Seal Root, Gingko Power and Milk Thistle Power. In materials to the trade, Twinlab characterizes NuVeg's "organic non-animal base" as "ideal for many people, especially vegetarians and those on restricted diets." The materials from which NuVeg is derived -- potato and tumeric -- "are among 40 foods identified as having health benefits by the National Cancer Institute's Experimental Foods Program," the company also noted. In the trade materials, tumeric is touted as "a natural spice containing a yellow pigment called curcumin, a potent antioxidant." Both the NuVeg shell and capsule are certified Kosher. Trade materials also emphasize that the vegetarian capsule has "great stability -- even under diverse temperature and humidity conditions -- which means it needs no preservatives to stay pure and fresh." Dissolution studies, Twinlab pointed out, "have shown that the NuVeg capsule disintegrates as fast and completely as traditional capsules," which are usually comprised of gelatin made from animal sources. NuVeg, Twinlab concluded, "is an excellent dosage form for delivering and transporting active ingredients to the [gastrointestinal] tract." Other benefits of NuVeg, according to TwinLabs, are that the vegetarian capsule is easy to swallow, and, as opposed to tablets, does not have fillers and binders. In addition, NuVeg capsules are tamper resistant. The company acknowledged, however, that dietary supplements incorporating the NuVeg technology are priced slightly higher than other supplement dosage forms due to the increased cost of manufacturing the vegetarian capsules. Twinlab acquired two-year exclusive North American rights to the vegetarian capsule technology in January from Warner-Lambert, whose Capsugel division developed the non-animal delivery system under the tradename Capill. Headquartered in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Twinlab manufactures over 300 vitamin and mineral supplements; amino acids; sports and fitness supplements; fish and marine oils; fiber, digestion, and weight loss products; and other "special formulas." Twinlab has been headed by President David Blechman and Exec VP Jean Blechman since 1968 and employs approximately 300. Twinlab affiliates include Nature's Herbs, which was founded in Orem, Utah in 1969; Alvita Products, an herb tea company founded in 1922 in Pasadena; and Advanced Research Press, which publishes magazines and books on health, nutrition and athletic performance.