Weekly Roundup: Sibelius launches subsidiary to study cannabis, BI Nutraceuticals conserves of 10m gallons of water annually

10 May 2019 --- In nutrition news this week, the Allied Health Professions Federation, including the British Dietetic Association (BDA), and Public Health England (PHE) launched a new Public Health Strategic Framework, in the same week that Sibelius launched a sister company that will focus on the study of the cannabis plant. BI Nutraceuticals announced that its Nevada facilities achieved the conservation of ten million gallons of water per year. Personalized nutrition company, 3TandAi changed its name to Digbi Health, while today marks the 131st birthday of hematologist Lucy Wills, who discovered folate and revolutionized prenatal care.

In brief: Acquisitions, partnerships and mergers
Sibelius Natural Products has announced, in association with a Vulpes backed Cayman company, the creation of a new business called Seneb Products Limited. Sibelius has exclusively licensed its Chronoscreen Platform to Seneb for the investigation of the cannabis plant. “Over the last 12 months Sibelius has been undertaking its largest ever investigation into the cannabis plant using its Chronoscreen Platform, however, we have taken our investigative work in the UK as far as we can within the current regulatory framework,” says Peter Leyland, Sibelius Natural Products CEO. The new Seneb laboratory will undertake objective, detailed, verifiable investigations into the beneficial uses of cannabis, with a goal to develop innovative natural products. The new laboratory will be located at the Johnson and Johnson incubator, JLabs, in the MaRS Centre, Toronto, Canada, where cannabis was federally legalized in October 2018. A principal goal will be to conduct investigations that allow science to guide Seneb towards cannabis benefits rather than using anecdote and plant lore to determine efficacy. “Cannabis is quite obviously a complex and phytochemically rich plant. It’s now time to apply scientific rigor to its study that puts its effects within a framework of detailed, scientifically validated and verifiable claims based on data and 21st-century processes,” adds Leyland. 

Sibelius Natural Products laboratoryThe Allied Health Professions Federation, which includes the BDA and PHE have launched a new Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Public Health Strategic Framework. The project has the support of public health bodies in each of the four UK countries and individual professional bodies. The strategy sets out the vision and objectives for the roles of AHPs in public health over the next five years. It builds on previous strategic documents to provide a united, collective approach to public health for the AHPs across the UK. The key goals of the new strategy include; developing the AHP workforce with the skills and knowledge to promote public health; demonstrating the impact of AHPs in public health through research and evaluation; Increasing the profile of the AHP public health role among key audiences; growing strategic connections between AHPs and health sector leaders; using AHPs to improve the health and wellbeing of the health and care workforce. “The new AHP strategy is very welcome, especially as it is UK-wide, bringing together great existing work in all four nations. I strongly believe all dietitians and wider AHPs have a big role to play to public health and prevention, whether they are in specific public health roles, the private sector or highly acute hospital settings,” says Caroline Bovey, BDA Chair. “This strategy represents good progress in promoting and realizing the potential of AHPs, although it needs to be backed up by funding and support from government ministers, commissioners and local authorities.”

In brief: Miscellaneous
US plant-based ingredients manufacturer and supplier BI Nutraceuticals has announced a milestone in water conservation. The company’s 150,000 square foot botanical milling facility in Reno, Nevada has achieved the conservation of ten million gallons of water a year, since its opening in 2015. Upon strategizing a move for its botanical milling, BI recognized the scarcity of water in its chosen desert location. Water plays a significant role in the manufacturing of botanicals. As a result, the operations team became deeply entrenched in the development of an innovative water conservation system. “Establishing our new facility presented unique challenges for our team,” notes Justin Scarberry, BI’s General Manager. ”With water access and usage rights being restricted, we had to re-engineer many of our production processes. Because of the new processes, we’ve been able to save more than ten million gallons of water per year; enough to supply 384 homes annually in the rapidly expanding Reno/Sparks Metropolitan area.” In searching for an innovative approach for water conservation, BI has  turned its attention to the sterilization process. BI’s Protexx HP Green Steam system uses a steam process to quickly kill the microorganisms in ingredients requiring very little water. After applying steam, the ingredient must be cooled to maintain its integrity. As an additional measure to conserve water, BI implemented a protocol, which quickly cools down the ingredient after the heat application. Instead of releasing the water after use, it’s recycled. The heating and cooling processes combined have made a remarkable difference in the method and quality of water usage for BI. 

Personalized nutrition company, 3TandAi has changed its name to Digbi Health. The company believes the new name is “a little easier to read, remember, and say.” The company also aligns with its vision for distilling complex DNA and gut biome based food and lifestyle recommendations into (Dig)estible (bi)tes. In addition, the move reflects the company’s focus and commitment to deliver more personalized and effective obesity, diabetes management solutions for doctors, individuals and the health insurance industry. “In less than a year, we launched DNA and Gut biome based weight loss/ diabetes management programs. We recently shared human trial results. A leading health insurance company recognized the efficacy of our programs and will start to cover our program for its PPO members starting June 1,” the company says. The new name does not affect any other process, such as the website which remains the same as the old but with a new name as well, according to the company.

Today marks the 131st birthday of leading English hematologist Lucy Wills, who discovered folate, the naturally occurring form of folic acid, and revolutionized prenatal care. Wills (born May 1888 – 16 April 1964) conducted seminal work in India in the late 1920s and early 1930s on macrocytic anemia of pregnancy. Her observations led to her discovery of a nutritional factor in yeast which both prevents and cures this disorder, folate. Macrocytic anemia is characterized by enlarged red blood cells and can be life-threatening. Poor pregnant women in the tropics with inadequate diets are particularly susceptible. Since the discovery, folate supplementation has been shown to not only to benefit the mothers but the fetuses as well.