Functional ingredients for bone and joint
health have withstood the test of time, and better-known ingredients, like
glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, may be as popular today as they were
several years ago. But let’s face it: innovation needs to come from somewhere.
In the
absence of a lot of groundbreaking new research, and with a new generation of
consumers entering the fray, bone and joint health ingredients will need to
impress in fresh new ways.
If you
need any motivation, just look at the omega-3 sector, where omega-3–fortified
foods and beverages are eating up more market share, year after year.
Incentives
for food and beverage manufacturers to launch bone and joint health products do
exist. First, new bone and joint health claims are still a possibility. Last
September, the European Food Safety Authority approved a health claim asserting
that “Vitamin D may reduce the risk of falling…a risk factor for bone
fractures.” Second, world-leading food and beverage manufacturers appear plenty
eager to invest in the category. This April, Nestlé announced a partnership
with the International Osteoporosis Foundation to raise awareness about the
“silent epidemic” of osteoporosis. The company has continued research on
essential nutrition for bone health.
Furthermore,
bone and joint problems remain (and will remain) leading health ailments for
consumers in the United States and abroad.
But
tablets and capsules might not sustain the bone and joint health market
alone—or any market for that matter. It’s 2012, people. For manufacturers eager
to tap into bone and joint health or already focusing on the category,
functional foods and beverages appear a logical option for the future. Take today’s
ingredients and put them into drinks, nutrition bars—anything less likely to
make you gag and more likely to make supplementing fun.
While
we don’t yet see a great deal of chondroitin sulfate energy bars and
glucosamine brownie bites, suppliers expect that we soon will. Because leading
suppliers of bone and joint health ingredients are increasingly going GRAS,
even in the absence of product launches.
Suppliers Are Ready
For
Bergstrom Nutrition (Vancouver, WA), a developer of a patented methylsulfonylmethane
called OptiMSM, achieving GRAS status was a no-brainer.
“Our
GRAS designation allows us flexibility that many other dietary supplements just
don’t have,” says Holly Harmon, Bergstrom director of marketing. “Case in
point, [a manufacturer] can use our ingredient in a private-label joint drink
because we have the actual GRAS designation by letter of non-objection from the
FDA. A major benefit for the [manufacturer] is that our ingredient can be used
in a product that contains a nutrition facts panel and sits on a mainstream
aisle in the store.”
OptiMSM
is currently used in a national grocery store retailer’s private-label joint
drink. Other manufacturers are formulating with the ingredient, and even more
have expressed similar interest.
Of
course, formulating with innovative functional ingredients isn’t always easy.
Cargill
Inc. (Minneapolis) says that many of today’s bone and joint health functional
ingredients can be challenged by pH, dispersability, efficacious dosages,
flavor, odor, taste, and mouthfeel. Yet those problems don’t seem to be the
case for Cargill’s GRAS-affirmed vegetarian glucosamine (Regenasure), which can
be found in multiple beverages and drink mixes in the United States and Asia.
Easy Transitions
As
unfamiliar to foods and beverages as some of these ingredients may be,
crossover potential may be easier for some ingredients.
Manufacturers
have added calcium and vitamin D to foods and beverages for years, and most
consumers have grown accustomed to this. This can give a jump to bone and joint
ingredients that synergize with calcium or vitamin D.
AIDP’s
(City of Industry, CA) GRAS-affirmed KoAct is a calcium-and-collagen
ingredient. Since calcium attaches to collagen to mineralize the bone, the
company says its ingredient can allow for better utilization of calcium in
foods or beverages, where applicable. (The ingredient has demonstrated its
highest potential thus far in bar formats.)
Vitamin
K2 is another example. This vitamin activates osteocalcin, a protein developed
by vitamin D that moves calcium to the bones. Without K2, there’s a risk of
calcium staying in the blood rather than reaching bones.
“In
short, K2 is a new vitamin that reinforces calcium absorption and action of
vitamin D,” says Siegbert Philipp, bone health platform expert for Dupont
Nutrition and Health (Copenhagen), developer of ActivK vitamin K2 (in synthetic
and natural forms). “Based on emerging knowledge about vitamin K2
functionality, products containing a combination of calcium, vitamin D, and
vitamin K2 (MK-7) seem a logical step.”
Beauty, Bones, and Joints
As bone
and joint health ingredient suppliers prep for functional foods and beverages,
a few ingredients could succeed thanks to previously established consumer
recognition in other health and wellness categories.
BioCell
Technology LLC (Newport Beach, CA) has held GRAS status on its BioCell Collagen
ingredient since 2010. Until now, functional food applications for BioCell
Collagen have largely been reserved for the beauty sector. (Collagen is used in
this category for its potential to support connective tissues in the skin.)
An
established presence in beauty-from-within products means that the ingredient
has been well received in non-supplement formats. The ingredient is also backed
by studies (and, assumedly, customer purchases) demonstrating its efficacy when
consumed as a non-tablet, non-capsule nutricosmetic.
“While
the joint side remains to grow at a healthy pace, our recent human skin study
helps increase traffic on the beauty side significantly at the same time,” says
BioCell vice president of scientific affairs Joosang Park. “Furthermore, we see
that in some markets, such as Korea and Japan, the populous has firmly believed
in the ‘beauty from within’ mantra for centuries, and we are already seeing a
paradigm shift in the American market towards this line of thinking.”
No comments:
Post a Comment