EFSA published a positive opinion on Rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I)\u2014the active fiber in Benicaros\u2014at the end of August, following an assessment that determined it as safe for adult consumption.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite being a natural, upcycled ingredient, its high purity of 80% led EFSA to classify it as a novel food in 2019, a status that was initially surprising to the company,\u201d Jan Jongsma, chief executive officer at NutriLeads, told NutraIngredients.<\/p>\n
In the United States, Benicaros received a letter of no objection from the Food and Drug Administration regarding its Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in 2021. Although the EFSA opinion took much longer, there is an administrative phase underway, which NutriLeads expects to conclude in the first half of next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point, we will have the official novel food approval,\u201d Jongsma said. \u201cThis opens up much greater potential in Europe, which was our initial focus, but since the process took longer than expected, we first expanded into the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jongsma called the recent decision a \u201cmajor step\u201d toward gaining formal authorization from the European Commission, which will allow the Dutch ingredients supplier to pursue distribution in Europe.<\/p>\n
NutriLeads gains EU approval, eyes global growth<\/p>\n
NutriLeads expects the approval to accelerate product adoption, not just within Europe but also globally.<\/p>\n
\u201cEurope has a big impact on the rest of the world,\u201d Jongsma said. \u201cIn many of the countries where we operate, regulators ask us about the status in Europe because they see it as a reference point.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained that some countries, such as South Korea, accept European legislation, and others use EU regulation as a model when they evaluate products.<\/p>\n
Regions including Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and China have also granted approval, allowing imports once their food legislation requirements are met.<\/p>\n
Benicaros shifts focus to gut health benefits<\/p>\n
NutriLeads initially positioned Benicaros for immune health, which, as Jongsma explained, was strongly influenced by the global focus on immunity during COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Since then, Benicaros has evolved its positioning to focus on gut health and prebiotic benefits, a \u201cnatural evolution,\u201d according to Jongsma.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of our major clinical studies targeted immune health, and from the beginning, we knew there was a strong connection between immunity and gut health,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, there has been a growing global awareness of nutrition, particularly the importance of fiber for human health, so there\u2019s been a natural movement toward gut health alongside the company\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
From the initial research, he said noted that NutriLeads recognized the ingredient\u2019s dual mode of action\u2014supporting both innate immune cells while also working through the gut.<\/p>\n
Because the immune results were strongest initially, the company positioned the product around immunity, but as research into the ingredients has continued in parallel with product launches that align with consumer demands, the company learned more about its prebiotic benefits, showing consistent and robust gut health effects across different microbiomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a breakthrough for the company\u2014we realized this was also a very powerful story to bring to the market,\u201d Jongsma said.<\/p>\n
Functional beverage market drives gut health trend<\/p>\n
Benicaros is now being integrated into a wide range of consumer products, and the functional food and beverage formats are gaining quick traction in Europe, Leilah Thiart, senior communications manager at NutriLeads, told NutraIngredients.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we look at the requests for Benicaros coming in from interested customers in Europe, we\u2019re seeing a lot of innovation in beverages, and we\u2019re seeing that functional foods and beverages are already helping to build awareness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
When novel food approval is confirmed, NutriLeads expects more functional beverage product launches with Benicaros, which may also contribute to enhancing consumer understanding of gut health.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, many sodas now highlight gut health benefits, which contribute to consumer understanding,\u201d Thiart said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe introduction of products in food and beverages is helping to educate consumers, and that increased awareness goes hand in hand with the growing trend in gut health. It\u2019s definitely an interesting development\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EFSA published a positive opinion on Rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I)\u2014the active fiber in Benicaros\u2014at the end of August, following an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[146166,146167,55498,146168,2000,299,5187,16976,38444,146169,146170,734],"class_list":{"0":"post-428608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-antitumor","9":"tag-carrot-bunch","10":"tag-carrots","11":"tag-diuretic","12":"tag-eu","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-european","15":"tag-harvest","16":"tag-natural","17":"tag-open-air-market","18":"tag-vermifuge","19":"tag-weight-loss"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115213444313022493","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}