Frutarom and AB-Biotics Join to Promote an Encapsulated Iron

09 Jul 2013 --- Frutarom Health, Switzerland, and the AB-Biotics biotech company, Spain, have signed an exclusive global Agency sale and marketing agreement (effective from July 1st 2013) for marketing AB-Fortis, an encapsulated iron solution for the functional food market.

“This new agreement is in perfect correlation with Frutarom’s commitment to being the preferred partner for tasty and healthy successes,” says Valerie Barrois, Segment Manager of Functional Food for Frutarom Health. “Our proven experience and know-how in bringing healthy ingredients to food applications coupled with our advance formulations capabilities will enable us to develop extensively the food market for AB-Fortis.”

AB-Fortis has been developed for AB-Biotics traded on the Spanish Alternative Investment Market (MAB). "This agreement marks a significant milestone for AB-Biotics, since the functional food market is a priority for our company,” explains Miquel Angel Bonachera, CO-CEO of AB-Biotics. ”Thanks to Frutarom Health we can bring AB-Fortis to this market with a top-positioned partner,” added Sergi Audivert, CO-CEO of AB-Biotics.

AB-Fortis is a patented encapsulated iron system that provides the recommended daily amount of iron in a single dose, while avoiding the metallic taste and classic side effects of standard iron supplements, such as dental darkening, gastrointestinal upset or nausea. The encapsulated iron can be incorporated into fat-rich matrices, such as milk or yogurt, without causing oxidation. In addition, AB-Fortis resists high temperatures and can be included in formulations across any pH level.

It is a well known fact that iron deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world. It affects hundreds of millions of children and women in developing countries, and is one of the only nutrient deficiencies significantly prevalent in industrialized countries.

Iron deficiency can be prevented by increasing iron intake via food fortification or food supplements, but usually high iron doses are required in order to make a significant impact due to poor absorption. The biggest iron fortification challenges in food processing are metallic taste and unpleasant g.i tract side-effects. These disadvantages are successfully overcome when adding AB-Fortis to a wide range of foods. This encapsulated iron allows fortification levels of up to 100% RDA of iron in the final product.

“We see a great potential for AB-Fortis in food fortification and supplementation in products such as dairy, beverages, infant nutrition or cereals, especially in Latin America and Asia Pacific but also in other regions such as Europe and the US where iron deficiency is well known among children and pregnant women,” explains Barrois. “We look forward to this agreement hallmarking our two companies’ global success.”