Acquisitions, company news, web site launches and more.

Carlson Laboratories, Inc. of Arlington Heights, IL announced the winners of its Annual Heart Month End Cap Contest. First place prizes of $500 in Carlson Products went to Basic Bulk of Kitchener, ON, Canada and Health Food Center of Oklahoma City, OK. Second place (and recipients of $250 worth of Carlson Products) went to Dr. Thayer’s Nutrition Center of Lafayette, IN, Foods for Living of Defiance, OH, The Healthy Gourmet of LeHigh Acres, FL and Nutrition S’Mart of Port St. Lucie, FL. Third place winners (who won $100 worth of Carlson Products) were Food Front Coop NW of Portland, OR, Lassen’s Health Food Store of Santa Barbara, CA, Nature’s Food Patch of Clearwater, FL, Our Daily Bread of Bryan, OH and Vitamin Village of St. Clair Shores, MI.

Vitamin Angels of Santa Barbara, CA announced that Vitamin World donated 100% of the profits from its Vitamin Angels/Vitamin World eco-friendly Tote bags sales, over 44,000 bottles of children’s chewable multivitamins and a “generous dollar contribution” from customers to the non-profit.

Jarrow Formulas, Inc., based in Los Angeles, CA, received a U.S. patent (7,682,606) for producing reduced, methylated, biologically active forms of folate. The patent, says the company, “details how edible mushroom-producing fungi are cultivated to enhance the uptake of pteroylmonoglutamate (synthetic folate) into edible portions of the plants. The mushroom-producing fungi reduce and methylate the pteroylmonoglutamates into activated folates.”

Ogden, UT-based Mineral Resources International, Inc. completed its 2009–2010 mineral harvest and stated it is “superb.” The next step will be potency and purity testing first at MRI’s in-house quality assurance laboratory and then at a third-party lab. To view a slideshow presentation of the harvest,  visit www.mineralresourcesint.com/harvest.html.

Nutrition Now’s Rhino Gummy Multi-Vitamin received a Certificate of Excellence at the recent Graphic Design USA 2010 American Inhouse Design Awards. The manufacturer, located in Vancouver, WA, stated its design stood out from over 4,000 other entries. To view the winning design and the entire Rhino line, visit www.nutritionnow.com/Rhino.

A.C. Grace Company of Big Sandy, TX co-sponsored the First Annual Conference of Integrative Medicine presented by The Institute for Integrative Medicine, LLC. The conference, which took place July 31 and August 1, was the first event at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Carthage, MO-based Membrell LLC announced that its JOINThealth and BONEhealth have a direct catalog listed in Scan Genius.

Enzymedica of Port Charlotte, FL launched the “Hope in Every Bottle” campaign. Specially marked bottles of Digest Spectrum will list a unique code that invites shoppers to visit www.HopeInEveryBottle.com, where they can activate their donation online. Enzymedica will give $1 for every bottle of 30-count and $2 for every 90-count Digest Spectrum that are activated online to the Autism Hope Alliance.

Reviva Labs of Haddonfield, NJ received a “Cosmetic Innovator of the Year” in the skin-care category from the Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors Association. Reviva won for its EFAs Cream.

Himalaya Herbal Healthcare
, with U.S. offices in Houston, TX was recognized by Trees for the Future for planting 50,000 trees in Andhra Pradesh, India in 2009.

Gainesville, FL-based Reserveage Organics was one of five finalists in the New Company of the Year category for the 2010 American Business Awards. According to Reserveage, it is the first nutritional supplement company to be nominated this category.

Natural Organics, Inc. of Melville, NY received a 2010 Presidential “E” Award for increasing exports.

Petaluma, CA-based Sprunk-Jansen LLC expanded its regional training program so as to support retailers nationwide. The firm added six new trainers to its staff, who will offer staff training in several states: Florida, Texas, Colorado, Georgia, Washington and Illinois. The company has plans to add more trainers.  

World’s Best Cat Litter
of Muscatine, IA launched the World’s Best Cat Litter Charity, which will donate litter to needy animal shelters.

MegaFood of Derry, NH  announced that Organic Valley Cooperative is now one of its Farm Fresh Partners. This farmer-owned cooperative will provide MegaFood farm fresh organic vegetables its fall’s harvest for use in MegaFood’s whole food supplements.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, Aug. 2010 (epub July 21, 2010)