Simi Valley, CA-based derma e natural Bodycare made a donation to the Special Olympics Southern California. In other news, the company announced that its personal care line is now 100% vegan and mostly gluten-free.

Trace Minerals Research of Ogden, UT won GearAwards honors from ShapeYou.com for its ConcenTrace and Probiotic 55 Billion dietary supplements. It has been honored with these awards every year since 2007.

Mineral Resources International of Ogden, UT donated elete Electrolyte Add-In to aid ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti through the West Tennessee Haiti Partnership. More than 150 students at the St. Vincent’s School for Handicapped Children in Port au Prince received the supplies.

In mid-November, the first annual GOPIO Health summit was held in East Elmhurst, NY. This three-day event was intended to help improve the health of those of Indian origin by “promoting preventive practices and sharing information to better manage chronic diseases.” Topics discussed included heart health, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and stress.

Several dental hygienists have won spots at an invitation-only xylitol seminar sponsored by Xlear, Inc. of Orem, UT. The winners of the Spry Dental Defense Project were Cindy Schoeninger, Sandra Dlugosz, Carla gantz, Donna grzegorek and Helen Fortner. These researchers will present their findings about the benefits of xylitol for oral health at the xlear xylitol Conference in Cancun, Mexico in February. Participants had patients use Spry xylitol products for 30 days and also gave them oral hygiene evaluation, bacterial biofilm scoring and intraoral photographs.

UAS Laboratories of Eden Prairie, MN now owns nutraceutical contract manufacturer APN Labs, Inc. of Wausau, WI. In other news, UAS Labs received the 2010 Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Enhancement of the Year in the North American probiotics market. According to the firm, UAS was selected because based on “intense focus on R&D, innovations in quality control of probiotic products, and a broad line of condition- specific products, UAS Labs [stands] apart from its competitors.”

VegNews magazine gave Bragg Liquid Aminos from Bragg Foods, Santa Barbara, CA, its 2010 Veggie Award for Favorite Condiment. The contest logged votes from nearly 46,000 readers.

Santa Barbara, CA-based Christie Communications will offer a matching grant for donations made to Nourish America of Ojai, CA. EchoAge and Healthy Directions have already given money to the cause. Companies donate through www.nourishamerica.org.

Los Angeles, CA-based Jarrow Formulas, Inc., announced that its YouTube channel has surpassed two million views. The channel features educational product videos and special event videos.

The Natural Products Association of Washington, D.C. has launched Facebook pages and Twitter feeds to keep members informed of news and legal/regulatory activity. Outlets for industry and policymakers include: www.facebook.com/NaturalProductsAssociation, http://twitter.com/NPANational and http://twitter.com/NPACalifornia. Also available are consumer pages aimed at helping to identify natural personal and home care products. Consumer outlets for the Natural Seal include: www.facebook.com/NPANaturalSeal and http://twitter.com/NPANaturalSeal.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, January 2011