The postbiotic “buzz”: Cargill Health Technologies president flags immunity and gut health benefits

23 Sep 2020 --- One year into the establishment of Cargill Health Technologies (CHT), the division is spearheading R&D in the fledgling postbiotic ingredient category. NutritionInsight speaks with CHT’s president, Chuck Warta, about what lies ahead for the business.

“Postbiotics have only gained traction within the supplement industry in the last few years, and they’re really beginning to generate some significant buzz among both consumers and consumer media outlets,” he notes. 

Warta continues that as a novel category with immune and gut health benefits, products containing postbiotics have the potential to be a top choice for consumers as the depth of research grows in this area. 

“Also, due to the versatility and ease of use in applications, we are certain that ten years from now, postbiotics will be present in many foods and beverages.”

Continued investments
While CHT was formally established a year ago, Cargill’s move into the digestive and immune health space began in 2017 with its investment in Delacon, a company active in phytogenics health solutions, and its acquisition of Diamond V, a global animal health company.

Cargill expects to continue making significant investments in building CHT into a leading digestive and immune health business for both animal and human applications. 

“This is in response to the rising significance of a proactive approach to health among both farmers and consumers and demonstrates the company’s commitment to feeding the world in a safe, sustainable and responsible way,” maintains Warta.

Employing new research techniques
CHT is also employing new research techniques that elevate its understanding of the relationships between diet, the gut and its microflora, and the immune system. 

“For microbiome focused work, we’re exploring the use of a variety of omics techniques – such as 16s, shotgun metagenomics, proteomics and metabolomics – to discriminate healthy microflora from unhealthy,” he adds.

These techniques yield a tremendous amount of data that can, when used correctly, enable CHT to create insights into microbiome function and connections to health. However, there is a challenge in managing and analyzing these large volumes of data appropriately. 

“We’ve begun to tackle this challenge through our partnership with Eagle Genomics. Its AI-enabled platform will help us explore connections between these various omics technologies in a biologically relevant way.”

Gut health and immunity
CHT is putting its probiotic R&D efforts into aiding the understanding of functional bioactives and their impact on intestinal microbiota and the immune system.

According to Warta, a growing body of research is finding a connection between gut health and immunity.

“There are more immune cells in your gut than anywhere else in your body. A healthy microbiome supports gut integrity and the immune system. Our EpiCor postbiotic is able to help support immune health, helping to harness the superpowers of fermentation in a daily supplement, and potentially in foods and beverages in the future.”

In April, Teresita Rudà, marketing manager of Lehvoss Nutrition – which represents EpiCor – shared that she had seen a lot of interest around postbiotic ingredients, especially in the US. 

CHT’s GRAS dossier for EpiCor is currently pending at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).CHT’s GRAS dossier for EpiCor is currently pending at the FDA.

Addressing broader categories
In addition to examining immune health, CHT is focusing on the emerging science around how the gut microbiome impacts disparate outcomes from digestive health and immunity to cognition and mood. 

“As we learn even more about these connections, it will become increasingly possible to use prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics to influence the microbiome to facilitate those outcomes. Health through nutrition is a nascent market, where new discoveries are being made every day,” says Warta.

“Health ingredients are one of the fastest-growing segments in nutrition. By applying science, technology and research to our existing capabilities, we are developing areas of growth in the microbiome and new categories of products that help support a healthy immune system – both in animal and human species,” he continues.

Postbiotic potential
In light of its potential, other companies have also been making moves in the postbiotic space. DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences’ Human Microbiome Venture – which just partnered with Proctor & Gamble – is investigating “next-generation of probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics.”

Meanwhile, ADM offers a range of postbiotics to target a range of demands from fat reduction to metabolic health.

Late last year, researchers found a dead probiotic could reduce age-related leaky gut in older mice as effectively as the live strain. The researchers highlighted the human potential for the postbiotic strain as a supplement or as a functional food and beverage ingredient, with commercialization initially earmarked for mid-2020.

By Katherine Durrell