Weekly Roundup: Azelis opens Regional Innovation Center in Singapore

03 Jun 2022 --- This week in nutrition news, Azelis is opening a “state-of-the-art” Regional Innovation Center for Food and Nutrition in Singapore. PLT Health Solutions appointed Dr. Dawna Salter-Farfan as its senior clinical research manager. Meanwhile, research revealed that drinking moderate amounts of coffee may lower the risk of death.

In brief: Business news
Specialty chemicals and food ingredients service provider Azelis will open its Regional Innovation Center for food and nutrition (F&N) in Singapore. The facility will open up possibilities for food innovation through ready-to-use formulations with “advanced” and environmentally sustainable ingredients. Azelis will be able to serve the F&N market better, discover more ingredient synergies and produce formulations and long-term solutions. The center is deemed an “essential milestone” in Azelis’ expansion plan of the F&N ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region. Azelis’ five F&N application laboratories around the region will form a regional innovation network that brings together local and regional teams’ technical expertise and formulation capabilities for greater synergy.

Citicoline is a naturally occurring nutrient that is particularly important for brain function.Dr. Eri Nakazaki of the Kirin Central Research Institute was named one of the winners of the 2022 Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry (JSBBA) award for her work in developing Cognizin Citicoline, Kyowa Hakko’s patented form of citicoline. According to the company’s parent company, Kirin Holdings, citicoline has been clinically studied to support brain health, mental energy, focus and attention. The award is granted to women who have made exemplary contributions to their companies’ agricultural chemical research or product development. Citicoline is a naturally occurring nutrient that is particularly important for brain function. In 2020, Dr. Nakazaki was involved in the development of the citicoline study.

In brief: Appointments and accreditation
PLT Health Solutions appointed Dr. Dawna Salter-Farfan as its senior clinical research manager. She will help PLT with trial design, reporting and publication as part of the company’s growing clinical research program. She will be a part of the company’s Innovation team, where she’ll be responsible for researching and developing innovative science-based ingredient solutions. Before joining PLT, Dr. Salter-Farfan spent nearly 14 years with Amway’s Nutrilite Division, most recently as a principal scientist in nutrition investigation and clinical research, providing scientific and technical guidance for product formulation and labeling and advertising claims, as well as marketing-driven promotions.Sweetened or unsweetened coffee consumption may lead to a lower risk of death.

In brief: Research and studies
Coffee consumption has been linked to a lower risk of death, according to a study funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The study compared non-coffee drinkers with those who drank moderate amounts – 1.5 to 3.5 cups per day – of unsweetened coffee or coffee sweetened with sugar. The findings showed that those who consumed coffee were less likely to die during a seven-year follow-up. The results for those who used artificial sweeteners were less clear. Participants who drank any amount of unsweetened coffee were 16 to 21% less likely to die than participants who did not drink coffee. They also found that participants who drank coffee sweetened with sugar were 29 to 31% less likely to die than participants who did not drink coffee. Based on this information, clinicians should advise their patients that most coffee drinkers do not need to exclude the beverage from their diet. Still, they should avoid higher-calorie specialty coffees.

By Nicole Kerr