Beyond The Headlines: Bayer expands fight against malnutrition, Hum launched first ever gummy for PMS symptom relief

24 Feb 2023 --- This week in nutrition news, Bayer revealed that it would expand its Nutrient Gap Initiative to help fight malnutrition with the goal of improving access to essential nutrients for 50 million people by 2030. Hum nutrition launched a first-of-its-kind gummy supplement to address premenstrual symptoms (PMS), including hormone imbalance, improving urinary tract health and supporting overall mood. Meanwhile, Symrise Pet Food partnered with Sunner to help supply the Chinese pet food market with sustainable and high-quality egg solutions for pet nutrition.

In brief: Nutrition news
Bayer has expanded its Nutrient Gap Initiative program to help improve access to nutritious foods and help provide safety net supplementation. The initiative, part of the company’s vision “Health for all, Hunger for None,” initially aimed to expand access to essential vitamins and minerals to 50 million people in underserved communities by 2030. With this expansion, the program aims to improve access to food, namely fruits, vegetables and grains. The initiative seeks also to address the three main barriers to accessing essential vitamins and minerals: intervention, education, and advocacy. According to the company, the program has impacted more than 19 million people in underserved communities. Some of the programs Bayer will implement in 2023 include access to prenatal nutrition, smallholder farmer nutrition education and seed distribution and education in India.

Hum Nutrition has launched SOS PMS Gummies, which the company says is the first gummy with clinically tested chasteberry extract to relieve PMS symptoms. Chasteberry has been shown in studies to relieve common PMS symptoms such as hormonal acne, bloating, breast tenderness, discomfort and mood swings. The product is formulated with 50 mg of chasteberry extract, cranberry, and vitamin B6 to support a healthy hormonal balance, urinary tract health, and overall mood. The offering is aimed at women who prefer gummies over pills for daily vitamins and supplements and the company stated that the vegan gummy is formulated by women, for women. HUM said it delivers on both taste and efficacy and is part of the company’s commitment to women’s health.

Meanwhile, Remilk, a producer of animal-free dairy, has received regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Authority (SFA) and a “no questions letter” from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The SFA approval enables Remilk to sell its proprietary animal-free milk protein in Singapore, a global leader in alternative protein development and investment. The FDA’s “no questions letter” indicates that Remilk’s animal-free whey protein is safe for use in food products under the administration’s GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) standards. Remilk states that its animal-free protein is produced through precision fermentation, which results in proteins identical to those found in traditional dairy but without lactose, cholesterol or hormones and with a fraction of the environmental impact.

In brief: Industry news
DSM and Firmenich have announced that the two companies received unconditional competition clearance from the European Commission and China’s State Administration for Market Regulation on February 16. However, the two companies are still waiting to receive a final competition clearance in India.

New Zealand-based dairy producer Fonterra has lowered and narrowed its 2022/23 season forecast Farmgate Milk prices to an average of US$0.31 per kg of milk solids (kgMS) – a measure of the level of efficiency being achieved from the milking herd. Fonterra has also reduced its forecast milk collections for the season from 1,480 million kgMS to 1,465 million kgMS, a revision it said was made due to the softened demand, particularly from China, at a time of balanced supply. Fonterra’s CEO, Miles Hurrell, is cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season due to the increased buying behavior from China. He also said that he is mindful of the soft economic growth outlook in many regions globally. Hurrell adds that milk production was impacted by cyclone Gabrielle and dry conditions in the South Island.

Planet Based Foods has partnered with Violife, the top-selling dairy-free cheese brand in the U.S., to provide plant-based cheese for its line of good-for-you, good-for-the-planet convenience foods. Violife’s vegan Colby Jack Shreds will be featured in new formulations of Planet Based Foods’ Original and Southwest Taquitos, alongside the company’s high-protein hemp-based crumble. Planet Based Foods plans to showcase the new formulations at Natural Products EXPO West 2023, where the two brands will participate in collaborative marketing efforts, including a “Taquito Thursday” demonstration.

Meanwhile, Ojah BV, a leading plant-based meat alternative manufacturer, has announced the expansion of its production facilities to meet the increasing demand for its meat alternatives technologies and innovations. Ojah’s patented technology, based on high moisture extrusion, produces complex meat-like structures from only two components – plant protein and water – it says creates nutritious, whole-muscle meat analogs that are high in protein, low in fat and gluten-free. The expansion will double Ojah’s current production capacity. Ojah has developed a range of consumer products, presented as an ingredient or ready-to-use. Kerry Group, a majority shareholder in Ojah, acknowledged the tremendous success of Ojah over the past 13 years and said that this expansion accelerates Kerry’s goal of being a global leader in plant-based solutions.

Symrise entered into a joint venture with Sunner, one of the main integrated poultry processors in China, to supply the China pet food market with sustainable and high-quality egg solutions. The company stated that the joint venture will leverage its expertise in egg protein and ingredients and Sunner’s chicken breeding, farming, feed processing and meat processing businesses to manufacture and market egg proteins under the Symrise Pet Food brand, Nutrios. Symrise holds the majority and operational management in the joint venture. This strategic partnership follows the completion of the newly built Symrise Pet Food factory in China in 2021 and the recent acquisition of Wing Biotech in mid-2022.

In brief: Research and studies
Researchers from the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences in the US, published a study in Aging Cell, which found that the supplementation of the naturally occurring dietary supplement nicotinamide riboside (NR) can enter the brain where it may improve cognition and slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease. The team used extracellular vesicles from neurons to measure the levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) in the brain. They discovered that NAD+ levels rose after six weeks and saw an association between this increase and biomarkers of neurodegenerative disease like amyloid beta and tau. Additionally, the researchers are currently conducting a 12-week study involving NR in older adults with mild cognitive impairment to test whether NR can be used as a supplement to counteract the loss of NAD+, which is linked to negative lifestyle habits and chronic neurodegenerative diseases.

Lastly, a study published in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology,  shows that psyllium fiber derived from Plantago seeds, can protect against ulcerative colitis and suppresses inflammation by activating the bile acid nuclear receptor in a mouse model trial. The fiber inhibits the inflammation that can lead to colitis by increasing serum bile acids, resulting in the activation of the farnesoid X receptor. The researchers stated the findings provide evidence that dietary fiber can benefit inflammatory bowel disease and indicated that distinct fibers act quite differently from each other, prompting the need for more human studies of specific fibers.

By William Bradford Nichols