While other sectors of the U.S. economy were faltering, the U.S. nutrition industry continued to grow 8.7% to $101.8 billion in 2008, according to the latest research from New Hope Natural Media’s Nutrition Business Journal® (NBJ). Sales of dietary supplements were particularly resilient last year, as consumers looked to these natural products to protect their health and ward off more expensive medical visits and prescription drugs. U.S. sales of dietary supplements grew 6.3% in 2008, and the supplement category was the only one tracked by NBJ that showed higher growth in 2008 than in 2007.

NBJ dives into these and other 2008 sales and growth estimates for the U.S. nutrition industry in its 2009 U.S. Nutrition Industry Overview issue, which published this month. The 48-page issue looks at the sales performance of and trends impacting supplements, functional foods, natural & organic foods, and natural & organic personal care and household products categories across all retail and direct-to-consumer sales channels. This issue also includes:

• A Q&A with Andrew Weil, MD, on the role of dietary supplements in healthcare reform
• Rankings of the top U.S. supplement companies
• A discussion of the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for supplement manufacturers and how their enforcement is affecting the industry
• A review of nanotechnology and its current applications within dietary supplements
• Tips for how supplement and other nutrition firms can most effectively use Internet marketing tools such as e-mail marketing, search engine optimization and marketing, and social marketing
• A detailed review of natural & organic and supplement retail trends within the natural & specialty and mass market channels
• And much more

To view the table of contents and read excerpts from the issue visit http://nutritionbusinessjournal.com/current/.

About NBJ
Nutrition Business Journal is an executive newsletter for decision-makers in the natural, nutrition and complementary and alternative health industries. NBJ's exclusive research and editorial focus on the strategic issues of the nutrition industry has made it a leading business intelligence resource for subscribers since 1996. To purchase detailed market research reports, subscribe to NBJ or sign up for the NBJ's free weekly e-newsletter, please visit www.nutritionbusinessjournal.com. NBJ also hosts the NBJ Summit, an invitation-only retreat for C-level executives in the nutrition industry each July. For more information, visit www.nbjsummit.com.

About New Hope Natural Media
New Hope Natural Media (www.newhope.com), a division of the Penton Media, Inc., is the leading media resource and information provider for the natural, organic and healthy products industry with print, in-person/event, and e-business products and services. Penton Media, Inc. is the largest independent business-to-business media company in the U.S., serving more than six million business professionals every month. The company’s market-leading brands are focused on 30 industries and include 113 trade magazines, 145 Web sites, 150 industry trade shows and conferences, and more than 500 information data products. Headquartered in New York City, the privately held company is owned by MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and its coinvestors. For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com.