Frezzor New Zealand launches vitamin D3 from traceable, upcycled sheep’s wool

11 Apr 2022 --- Global health and nutritional products company Frezzor New Zealand is launching vitamin D3 derived solely from lanolin oil from 100% New Zealand sheep’s wool. The lanolin oil is extracted from wool following the annual shearing of sheep’s coats.

“Vitamin D3 has become a commodity ingredient over the past few years and consumers are encouraged to consume it in higher doses, but little consideration is paid to the possibility of what else is in the capsule and how pure it is,” Grant Washington-Smith, chief science officer, Frezzor New Zealand, tells NutritionInsight.

“As far as sustainability is concerned, the wool oil that we use to make vitamin D3 is a natural by-product of the woolen textile industry. It is an alternative to using petrochemical-derived synthetic textiles, which are still popular and inexpensive to produce.”

The company is also releasing its vitamin D3 and combining it with vitamin K2 derived from an all-natural chickpea extract.

“There are many vitamin D3 supplements on the market. As best we know, we are the first to offer a vitamin D3 that can trace its material right back to the origin – even down to the farms where the sheep were raised.”

According to the company, its vitamin D3 and K2 supplement is beneficial for people who consume dairy and cheese regularly as vitamin D3 aids in calcium absorption. Meanwhile, vitamin K2 ensures that calcium is correctly locked into the bone.

Utilizing sheep’s lanolin
Frezzor New Zealand has operations in the US, Europe, UK and China.

According to Frezzor New Zealand, its vitamin D3 and K2 supplement is beneficial for people who consume dairy and cheese regularly.“Years ago, we started working on a bone health supplement processed from the bone of skeletons of fish caught in the managed fishery within New Zealand’s territorial waters,” explains Washington-Smith.

“At the time, this bone health supplement included a vitamin D3, which we knew was produced from sheep’s lanolin (wool oil), but the manufacturer of the vitamin D3 was based outside of New Zealand and collected wool oil from around the world. Therefore, there was uncertainty regarding the purity and quality of the sheep’s lanolin.”

“Only the wool lanolin from New Zealand’s 100% grass-fed, free-range sheep is allowed to be used to produce our vitamin D3 because we can track where it has come from,” says Noel Turner, CEO and founder at Frezzo New Zealand.

Washington-Smith continues to explain that as the manufacturing procedure concentrates the lipid-soluble compounds in the wool oil, it has the potential to concentrate other lipid-soluble impurities in addition to vitamin D3.

“We knew that New Zealand sheep’s lanolin was very high in the precursor compounds required to produce the vitamin D3 compared to wool oil from other regions. Therefore, we wanted to work with a company within New Zealand to extract a high purity wool oil and then a manufacturer that can convert that oil into a high purity vitamin D3 for us.”

Vitamin D3 moves: regulations and NPD
The vitamin D3 is derived solely from lanolin oil from 100% New Zealand sheep’s wool.Industry has been tapping into a variety of sources for vitamin D, such as PLT Health’s Earthlight ingredient sourced from mushrooms.

Previously, industry groups opposed the new European Commission regulation that classifies vitamin D3 as a Product of Animal Origin and imposes import restrictions on the ingredient. Meanwhile, US-based Refyned unveiled two convenient vitamin supplements in dissolvable strip form: Sleep+ and D3 Sunshine Support.

Lycored expanded its vitamin D product line with the introduction of Capsudar D3 1000E, a highly concentrated, microencapsulated D3. The smaller size format allows synergistic solutions that mix vitamin D with additional ingredients.

By Nicole Kerr