In 2021, the global personalized nutrition market was valued at USD $9 billion and is expected to reach an astounding USD 20.14 billion by the year 2029. We continue to see an ever-increasing trend toward healthier foods, and consumers are leveraging science and technology to make more educated choices to select the right food that supports their overall health and wellness goals.

Although much of this growth has been driven by an increase in consumer demand for health and wellness products, historically there have been other forces – such as legislation, innovation, and technology – that helped shape the nutrition industry by improving consumer safety.

For more than 40 years, our company has been helping people live healthier lives through nutrition and we’ve pioneered quality processes by taking a leadership role, making great investments in scientific development, technology, analytical science, and manufacturing.

I am truly amazed when I look back and see how far the nutrition industry has come in terms of building consumer trust.

1980 – The Birth of Quality Management

Quality management as a concept was born partially in response to unforeseen crises and partially because of developments in analytical and manufacturing technology. Some of the milestones of this decade were:

1990 – Building Consumer Awareness and Education

The 1990s saw some of the greatest advancements on regulations that aimed to help consumers make better-educated choices when it came to nutrition:

2000 – The Era of Good Manufacturing Practices Begins

As the new millennium rolled around, the impact of the previous decade’s regulations helped build a foundation for consumer trust as companies continued to beef up their quality assurance processes. Government agencies continued to refine rules and regulations to help protect and educate:

2010 – The Rise of Industry 4.0

This most recent decade has paved the way for the industry to develop more comprehensive and standardized practices for ensuring consumer safety and product quality, both critical components for building consumer trust and regulatory partnerships for good stewardship:

2020 – Raising the Bar for Quality Standards

As a global leader in the nutrition industry, we’ll continue to invest in creating an atmosphere of transparency and earned consumer trust, providing high-quality, science-backed products that deliver results. To achieve that goal, we are engaging in partnerships that will raise the bar for quality standards in the nutrition industry.

Regulations and legislation are not the sole reason why the industry needs to improve food quality and food safety. It is imperative that companies, academia, and government partner up for the greater good and the benefit of the consumer. Those who can have an obligation to the industry and consumers to commit to scientific research, transparency, and accountability.

Gary Swanson Herbalife

Gary SwansonMSc – Sr. Vice President of Global Quality Assurance and Control

Gary Swanson is senior vice president of Global Quality Assurance and Control. He is responsible for all corporate and regional quality assurance teams as well as the testing laboratories and quality operations at Herbalife Nutrition.

He has grown and diversified the Herbalife Nutrition Quality group to include Analytical Method Development, Audit Compliance, Process Validation, Metrology, QMS, Botanical Science and Plant Genomics. Swanson has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Biology from Laurentian University in Sudbury in Ontario and a Master of Science in Neurophysiology from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. He lives a healthy, active lifestyle by playing golf and enjoying his favorite Herbalife Nutrition products, Herbalife Nutrition Formula 1 Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix Mint Chocolate, MemoryArmor, and Herbalife24 ACHIEVE Protein Bar Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.