Weekly Roundup: Aker BioMarine enhances presence in Asia, FSA updates CBD toxicology data

04 Feb 2022 --- This week in nutrition news, Aker BioMarine opened a new office in Tokyo to better serve its business moves in Japan. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) clarified toxicological data and set a new CBD product deadline. Meanwhile, Panaceutics and Viocare scaled a new personalized nutrition platform.

In brief: Business news
Krill supplier Aker BioMarine expanded its reach in Asia by establishing an office in Tokyo, Japan, to serve its business better there. Japan is one of the largest health-related food markets globally, and Aker BioMarine has been selling its Superba krill oil product in this region for over ten years. As the demand for krill products grows, the company has strengthened its local team with additional sales and marketing functions. Superba krill oil is a formula extracted from Antarctic krill to deliver essential omega 3 (EPA and DHA), choline, phospholipids and astaxanthin, with proven effects to improve human health.

The partnership between Panaceutics Nutrition and Viocare will provide solutions to pre-natal and post-natal health and cancer patients.

Panaceutics Nutrition, a provider of personalized supplements and Viocare, a dietary assessment software tools provider, partnered to create personalized nutritional solutions for healthcare providers – including clinics and registered dietitians – and their patients. The nutrition assessment software from Viocare will help healthcare professionals identify gaps in a patient’s nutritional status. Using this information, Panaceutics’ patented personalized formulation manufacturing process will create a specific formulation to address these gaps and ship the product directly to the individual. Ongoing assessments of the patient will then inform regular updates to the personalized formulation using a subscription-based model.

Producer of gummy energy shots GummiShot entered distributor partnerships with CoreMark, McLane, Hackney, VISTAR, Golden Eagle Distribution and Harbor Wholesale. These partnerships will make GummiShot’s energy gummies available for purchase at over 4,000 US convenience store locations by early spring. The rapid growth of GummiShot can be attributed to its position inside two major global categories – the US$16 billion gummy sector and the US$57 billion energy beverages and shots market. The GummiShots are plant-based and available in three flavors made from fruit: Elderberry, Valencia orange and Tropical.

In brief: Launches and releases
Food supplements and dietetic products manufacturer Laboratoire PYC released new protein cereals that contain 28% plant proteins. The sugar content is deliberately limited, and the product’s composition is designed to be “basic” – featuring eight ingredients. The product has a “honey cereal” taste and can be eaten for breakfast or snacks during the day. The new addition completes the range of high-protein snacks and instant powders. Laboratoire PYC protein snacks for the adult diet market include chips, bars, biscuits and bread.

In brief: Regulations
FSA issued toxicology data clarification and a new deadline for CBD products. Forty CBD companies now have until 28 February to provide sufficient toxicology data to the agency or risk losing the right to sell their products. The new deadline applies to those who submitted dossiers with literature reviews of pre-existing studies by the FSA’s 31 March 2021 deadline. In November 2021, the FSA updated online guidance for those submitting a novel food application for the first time, confirming that applicants needed to include details of the toxicological studies undertaken or proposed. To add to this, on 21 January, the FSA reiterated that any review of pre-existing studies would not go far enough in proving the safety of CBD in food.Laboratoire PYC’s protein cereals contain 28% plant proteins.

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) announced that the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has updated its Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD), adding more than 6,000 labels based on images submitted by industry and collected in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. AHPA has had a policy since 2015 to encourage members that market supplement products under their brands to submit labels for inclusion in the DSLD. Many features of the modern DSLD reflect a request from AHPA for improvements to the database. The DSLD database now allows users to search for products by ingredient, form, brand and intended consumer group. The database is the most comprehensive information resource about dietary supplements in existence.

In brief: Research and studies
Researchers from US-based Arizona State University have found that supplementing with vitamin B6 lowers depression symptoms in college women who use oral contraceptives. Low plasma levels of vitamin B6 – a cofactor in the tryptophan-serotonin pathway, essential for mood modulation – are more likely in oral contraceptive (OC) users. The participants were healthy (18 to 25 years), did not take dietary supplements, and used OC (estrogen with progestin) consistently for at least one year. During the 12 week-long study, participants’ depressive symptoms were reduced 20% by vitamin B6 supplementation compared to an 11% rise with placebo ingestion. 

By Nicole Kerr