Inulin Producers Petition FDA for Dietary Fiber Acceptance

14 Sep 2016 --- Inulin Producers, including Cosucra Groupe Warcoing have submitted a joint Citizen Petition to the FDA, requesting that the addition of chicory inulin, encompassing all chicory inulin-type fructans, are added to the list of dietary fiber accepted in the US.

The FDA recently published two labeling regulations affecting almost every product category in the food and supplement sectors.

This included a new definition for dietary fiber, which defines dietary fiber as either naturally occurring fibers that are intrinsic and intact in plants, or as isolated or synthetic fibers that have demonstrated a beneficial physiological effect.

So far, the FDA was able to assess certain fibers and grant dietary fiber status to a few fibers but chicory root inulin is still under review.

Cosucra Groupe Warcoing, a leading chicory root fiber manufacturer based in Belgium, submitted a joint Citizen Petition to the FDA along with other Inulin producers.

“Chicory root inulin and oligofructose are physiologically characterized as non-digestible carbohydrates and fully fermentable dietary fibers,” Heidi Jacobs, PhD, R&D/QA Director at Cosucra told NutritionInsight. “These chicory root fibers have a number of physiological health benefits, including improved laxation/bowel function, increased calcium absorption, reduced blood cholesterol levels and attenuated postprandial blood glucose levels.”
 
“Given the wealth of high quality scientific data on chicory root inulin’s beneficial physiological effects, Cosucra and the other inulin producers are confident that the additional information supplied to FDA through the citizen’s petition will aid in review and approval of inulin as a dietary fiber.”

“The continued possibility to label chicory root inulin as dietary fiber will benefit our customers who are looking for naturally sourced ‘clean label’ dietary fibers with proven health benefits. And in the end this will also most of all benefit the US consumers helping to close the fiber gap in their consumption pattern.”

Cosucra inulin and oligofructose are distributed in the US and Canada by Cargill under the brand Oliggo-Fiberchicory root fiber (inulin).

The Citizen Petition requests the addition of chicory inulin, encompassing all chicory inulin-type fructans, to be added to the list of dietary fiber accepted in the US.

Cosucra Groupe Warcoing argues that product data convincingly shows the beneficial physiological effects of chicory root inulin, as well as a wealth of data on chicory root inulin’s beneficial physiological effects.

Cosucra and the other inulin producers are confident that the additional information supplied through the citizen’s petition will aid in the review and approval of inulin as a dietary fiber.