Beyond The Headlines: US launches food waste strategy, Univar Solutions and Ingredion expand distribution

14 Jun 2024 --- This week in nutrition news, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new national strategy to reduce food waste, while the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is partnering with Filipino telcom Globe to improve nutrition security in the country.

In business news, Univar will distribute Ingredion’s functional ingredient in select European markets, Nutiva Global and Palmer Holland join forces to distribute cranberry ingredients in the US, while One-Health Group Technology (Lithy) will help Hofseth BioCare Asa’s (HBC) distribute its marine ingredients on the Chinese market. Resbiotic Nutrition will start offering its prebiotic supplement at GNC.

Meanwhile, newly published research papers reveal the gut health benefits of prebiotic fiber, and that beetroot juice may facilitate the functioning of the cardiovascular system among postmenopausal women.

Nutrition News
The FDA, the USDA and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have announced their national strategy to reduce food loss and waste while further facilitating the recycling of organics. The aim of these joint efforts is to reduce climate pollution, improve the finances of families and businesses, and support the circular economy. The newly released strategy outlines tangible goals that the US government can work toward alongside retailers and consumers.  

The WFP will support the Hapag Movement hunger alleviation program (Image credit: Globe Telecom).The Philippines’ telecom and digital solutions provider, Globe, has partnered with the WFP with the aim of facilitating and bringing light to its hunger alleviation program — the Hapag Movement. The partnership will bring Globe’s Hapag Movement to a broader international network of donors and stakeholders. “Hapag” means “dining table” in the local language, and since its inception in 2022, the movement has reached over 95,000 people and produced 2,662 livelihood training graduates. The movement provides training to vulnerable families and raises funds to reach such communities. 

Business News
Specialty ingredients and chemical provider Univar Solutions is expanding its long-time distribution partnership with F&B provider Ingredion. This expansion will allow Univar to distribute Ingredion’s functional ingredients to the F&B markets in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Ingredion will leverage the commercial reach of Univar Solution’s Foodology team to broaden its reach. The enhanced collaboration further seeks to provide customers with improved access to digital tools and strategic insights. 

Resbiotic Nutrition, a physician-developed prebiotic and probiotic wellness brand, has announced a nationwide launch of its supplements at GNC, the global health and wellness retailer. Their flagship product is the resB Lung Support Probiotic, formulated specifically to address respiratory wellness and shown to be effective through extensive clinical trial testing. At GNC, customers will also find Resbiotic’s prebeet Energy+ Prebiotic for gut health and metabolic wellness featuring beetroot, methylated B12 and prebiotic fiber, it can reduce bloating, curb cravings, boost GLP-1 and increases energy.

Resbiotic Nutrition’s biotic supplements are now available at GNC (Image credit: Resbiotic Nutrition).Nutrativa Global and Palmer Holland join forces to distribute cranberry ingredients in the US. Nutrativa Global’s relevant products include cranberry fiber, Cranberry protein powder, cranberry powder, whole cranberry extract powder and cranberry seed oil. There are clean-label friendly ingredients produced from the pomace, skins and seeds of the cranberry, with no waste being created. All ingredients are upcycled at Nutrativa Global’s parent company, Northern Lights Food Processing. The functional cranberry ingredients are aimed at formulators and consumers who are looking to target the current trends in natural health, such as dietary fiber, protein enhancement, antioxidants and polyphenols.

Norwegian consumer and pet health ingredient supplier HBC has announced that it is appointing Lithy as an additional distributor in China. The Shanghai-based Lithy will distribute HBC’s marine nutrition ingredients, ProGo bioactive peptides, OmeGo full spectrum omegas and CalGo natural, undenatured type II collagen, to supplement manufacturers in China. Lithy offers in-house manufacturing capabilities, as well as a number of formulations using HBC ingredients that are ready-to-go.

Scientific studies
A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota, US, has investigated the link between prebiotic fiber and a balanced gut microbe composition and overall health. The human clinical trial looked at Taiyo’s Sunfiber and found “significant gut-balancing benefits” at 3 and 6 g doses. The study published in Applied Microbiology was conducted by fiber expert Dr. Joanne Slavin. Her work reveals that after 14 days, the group who consumed Sunfiber doses had higher levels of Akkermansia levels compared with the placebo group. Decreased Akkermansia concentrations in the gut are associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.

Beetroot juice facilitated heart health among postmenopausal women, according to a newly published study by researchers at Pennsylvania State University, US. Postmenopausal women face a significant increase in the risk of developing health diseases. The study published in Frontiers in Nutrition investigated how the high levels of nitrate beetroot juice are converted into nitric oxide by the body, improving and supporting the functioning of the heart and blood vessels of women in the selected cohort. 

By Milana Nikolova