Cargill eyes postbiotic functional foods following EpiCor GRAS approval

21 May 2021 --- Cargill’s EpiCor postbiotic is now Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) in some foods and beverages following a letter of no objection from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Company experts tell NutritionInsight how functional foods can address consumer demands for everything from immunity to gut health.

“The FDA’s letter of no objection to our GRAS notification clears the way for food and beverage manufacturers to offer products made with EpiCor postbiotic,” says Cashtyn Lovan, marketing manager at Cargill Health Technologies (CHT).

She points out that, traditionally, supplements were the key vehicle for postbiotics. 

However, today’s consumers are increasingly turning to functional foods and beverages, attracted to their health and wellness benefits.  

For example, Innova Market Insights reports that three in five global consumers are increasingly looking for food and beverage products that support their immune health. EpiCor can be used in a range of supplement delivery formats, as well as in functional foods and beverages.

Partnerships on the horizon
Epicor, a dried yeast fermentate, was first established in the supplement space and can already be found in many health and wellness brands, such as ZAND’s lozenges.

In anticipation of the FDA’s letter, Cargill has also partnered with F&B manufacturers to help them develop functional products. 

Some prototypes using EpiCor include chocolaty bites, granola bars, gummies, non-dairy yogurt, RTD teas and dry tea mixes, and dispersible powdered drink sticks.

“In the months ahead, we look forward to helping food and beverage brands bring products infused with EpiCor postbiotic to store shelves,” explains Lovan.

She continues that postbiotics are still very new to the food and beverage landscape. “However, given the science-backed benefits these ingredients provide, we think that demand for products containing postbiotics will continue to gain traction.”

Cargill also will continue to invest in research and innovations around EpiCor and the postbiotic space. 

What is EpiCor?
EpiCor is made in the US through a proprietary fermentation process that creates a fingerprint of metabolites and functional compounds. It is a whole food ingredient, meaning nothing is extracted or purified. Instead, the entire fermentation broth is dried to become EpiCor. 

“It was inspired by a real-life health discovery story. Factory employees at our founding company’s animal feed manufacturing facility were taking fewer sick days than their office-bound colleagues,” says Dr. Justin Green, director of CHT scientific affairs.

To understand why, the company commissioned pilot studies and learned that its fermented animal feed product supported the immune health of the factory workers exposed to the product. 

The company then embarked on years of clinical research to show the safety and efficacy of this whole food fermentate for people. 

Tackling immunity and digestion
Fifteen published studies, including eight human clinical trials, support EpiCor’s health benefits related to both digestive and immune support.

For example, in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trials, the postbiotic was shown to support immune health year-round.

Cargill has also noticed an explosion of retail sales of products with an immune claim over the last year. “Given this rapid growth, successful companies will look for innovative ingredients to help differentiate their products,” argues Lovan.

“In addition to its immune health benefits, other studies in both human clinical trials and model systems show that EpiCor postbiotic also supports gut-microbiota modulation,” adds Green.

About a quarter of consumers globally report digestive health challenges, and 50 percent of those indicate that this has a moderate or even severe impact on their current health, according to Lovan. Because a postbiotic is not a live organism, it is highly heat-stable and can handle varying pH levels. 

The rise of postbiotics
Earlier this year, Cargill conducted a survey to better understand US consumers’ attitudes toward immune and gut health support. Lovan says that although specific to supplements, the survey findings likely offer insights relevant to the food and beverage space, too. 

“While time-tested vitamins topped the list, we found consumers are also paying attention to newer entrants to the immune space, including postbiotics,” she says.

While postbiotics have only gained traction within the supplement industry in the last few years, Cargill found about one third of consumers already recognize that these ingredients can help support a healthy gut and immune system. “This suggests huge potential for this emerging market segment,” argues Lovan.

Earlier this month, the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) also published a consensus statement on the definition and scope of postbiotics.

“This definition validates EpiCor as a postbiotic. Having an internationally recognized definition is an important step in broadly bringing the benefits of postbiotics to consumers,” says Liz Spence, general manager for EpiCor.

In September, CHT’s president predicted that postbiotics would be increasingly present in foods and beverages over the next decade due to their versatility. 

Cargill has also been involved in numerous investments and collaborations in the microbiome arena, including with Evolve BioSystems, Seventure Partners, BioGaia and Eagle Genomics.

By Katherine Durrell