Chris Reed, founder of Los Angeles, CA-basedReed’s Inc. has resigned as CEO and has been reassigned to Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), a newly created role within the company.Stefan Freeman, Reed’s director, has been appointed as interim CEO by the Company board of directors during the transition.
Wisdom Natural Brands, makers of SweetLeaf Stevia Sweetener, announced thatCarol Mayhas been appointed chief executive officer and chairman of the board. Michael P. May, Ph.D., will now step into the role of president previously held by Carol May, from his former position as chief operating officer and executive vice president.
Dr. S.K. Dash, founder and chairman ofUAS Laboratories, LLCand president of DD Innovations, Inc. received the highest honor, 2017 Distinguished Odiya Award from the president of India, Honorable Pranav Mukharjee in New Delhi, India for his outstanding contribution to probiotics and philanthropy.
In Memoriam
Jack Challem, bestselling author and beloved figure in the natural products industry, passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 66. Born May 29, 1950, he will be remembered for many contributions, including ushering in science-based nutrition reporting in the natural products industry. His over 20 books, many of which were bestsellers, included “Feed Your Genes Right,” “No More Fatigue, Stop Prediabetes Now,” “Syndrome X, The Food-Mood Solution,” and “The Inflammation Syndrome.” A health and science writer for 43 years, Challem launched the eponymous The Nutrition Reporter newsletter in 1992. In recent years, Challem was a personal nutrition coach and recognized fine art photographer in the Tucson, Arizona area. In a 2011 interview in WholeFoods Magazine, Challem told Richard Passwater, Ph.D., that his original training in sociology and psychology, influenced how he approached nutrition. “For example, the way we eat does not exist in a vacuum,” said Challem. “Eating habits are shaped by upbringing, education, peer pressure, advertising, stress and other factors.”
He was a member of the American Society for Nutrition and was a columnist for the journal Alternative & Complementary Therapies, and served on the editorial board of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. His scientific articles have appeared in Free Radical Biology & Medicine, Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Medical Hypotheses, Psychology Today and other journals. He wrote articles for consumer periodicals, as well, including Alternative Medicine and Better. Jack was a frequent speaker at trade shows, nutritional medicine conferences and meetings of consumer health groups. His Expo West lectures were often standing-room-only events.
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American Botanical Council (ABC)announced the passing of their board memberFredi Kronenberg, PhD.Kronenberg focused on botanical research in women’s health. She co-founded the first alternative medicine program at a major medical center in the country at the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City in 1993. She also worked in the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona as a co-founder of an annual nutrition course, and worked in research programs at Stanford University (where she earned her doctorate in physiology). Kronenberg established a week-long continuing medical education course held at Columbia and The New York Botanical Garden. From 1999 until her death, Kronenberg served as an active member of the board of trustees of the American Botanical Council.Published in WholeFoods Magazine June 2017
