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CHATSWORTH, Calif. — Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres included several Natrol nutritional products as part of her top five "12 Days of Giveaways" bonus items on "Ellen," Natrol announced Wednesday.

"Ellen is a shining example of the type of customers we stand for as a company — a successful, fast-paced person who values a healthy lifestyle and wants to ensure that the nutritional products they trust to use are as safe, natural, fast-acting and effective as possible," Natrol's senior director of marketing Lisa Sheppard said.

The market for meal replacement ready-to-drink shakes is expanding beyond the need for a shake-shake-sensible-meal diet plan, or the need for a protein booster, with a number of niche marketing opportunities.


For those of us in the healthcare and wellness business, we realize our industry is changing and evolving quickly, mostly out of pure necessity.  The healthcare industry is overburdened, over budget and in need of an overhaul.  But the potential for our healthcare and wellness system is incredible for all audiences it touches — from consumers to medical professions to healthcare and wellness marketers. Throughout this past year familiar themes rang clear across our industry, giving us insights into what will play vital roles for healthcare in our future.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Ric Jurgens, chairman and CEO of Midwestern supermarket chain Hy-Vee, will retire on June 1, the company said Wednesday.

Jurgens, 62, began working for Hy-Vee 42 years ago while a student at Iowa State University, taking a full-time position after his graduation. In 1995, he was named SVP and chief administrative officer, becoming president in 2001, CEO in 2003 and chairman in 2006. Jurgens said he will ask the company's board of directors to elect president and COO Randy Edeker as chairman and CEO.

NEW YORK — Johnson & Johnson recently named Michael Sneed to oversee its global marketing and public relations functions, according to a report published Tuesday on AdAge.com, effective Jan. 1. He will take over from Brian Perkins, J&J's top marketing executive who is expected to retire in March, according to the report.

Perkins, along with Ray Jordan, corporate VP public affairs and corporate communications, will report to Sneed during the transition.

WASHINGTON — Internet retailers have an unfair advantage over Main Street merchants when it comes to sales tax, and legislation may be the solution to help level the playing field, according to the National Retail Federation.

BALTIMORE — Nearly one-fifth of all Americans ages 12 years and older have hearing loss so severe that it may make communication difficult, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers and published in the Nov. 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The findings, thought to be the first nationally representative estimate of hearing loss, suggest that many more people than previously thought are affected by this condition.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition on Tuesday launched an enhanced bottle design across its Boost Complete Nutritional Drink line that's grip-friendly, lightweight and that features a no-foil, easy-to-open top.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Skin care is hot, but Dairyface is cool — so cool that it lives in the fridge. Dairyface is a new line of yogurt-based products that incorporate the nutritional benefits of milk to nourish skin cells. It remains fresh in the refrigerator through a clearly indicated expiration date and is full of prebiotics and probiotics for the skin. The Dairyface collection includes five facial refreshers that are designed to be applied like a topical mask treatment. Each package contains two single-serving treatments for the suggested retail price of $19.95.

The business of nutritional bars is booming, with 9-of-the-top-10 brands trending at a double-digit annual growth rate. And that one bar not growing in double digits is the No. 1-selling bar — General Mills’ Fiber One — by a margin of more than $60 million in annual sales. Sales of Fiber One are up 7.3%, according to SymphonyIRI Group for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 4 across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart).

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson Tuesday morning pledged significant support behind the relaunch of several McNeil Consumer products into the marketplace in 2012, and feels confident impacted brands — Tylenol and Motrin, among others — will be able to recapture market share, despite significant private-label erosion.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — AccuDial Pharmaceutical on Tuesday acquired Stephen Key Design in a move that will expand AccuDial’s patent portfolio to more than 50 patents for weight-based dosing and other extended content rotating labels, which add 75% more labeling space to a container.