The Winter 2009 issue of Nutraceuticals Now is now available.

Excerpts of featured articles are available on this website:

Credit Crunch - What is in store for the functional food sector?
Chr. Hansen: Lingonberry - the new Nordic superfruit
Neptune: Neptune Krill Oil (NKO®) and its health-promoting properties

Even though the probiotic concept has been described about a century ago (Elie Metchnikoff, 1907), it is only in the past decade that probiotics have gained real momentum. Indeed, the probiotic market has known a tremendous growth during the past few years, and is still in its infancy in most territories. While the market is more developed in countries with a long history of fermented food and dairy products (Europe, Japan…), it is an emerging market with great potentials in North and South America, China, India…

One of the main driving forces behind this recent development is the growing interest for probiotics from the scientific community. Both their health benefits and mechanisms of action have gained strong scientific backup. A quick search on Pub Med shows that probiotics have generated up to 800 scientific publications between 2000 and 2007, a figure rising constantly. In 2000, probiotics have became the first health ingredient in numbers of scientific publications. As we start to gather intelligence about the diversity of the microflora functions and interactions in the body and the possible modes of actions of probiotics, new potential applications are emerging constantly. If probiotics first and most important applications remain in the digestive health and well-being area (restoration and maintain of the microbiota balance, prevention of diarrheas or bloating, transit regulation, lactose intolerance…), other trends including immunity, either to stimulate the body’s defences or prevent allergies, inflammatory diseases etc. have emerged in the past five years. Recently, the link between the microbiota and obesity have set new directions for probiotics applications. Another emerging area already recognised by animal health experts, is stress management, with growing evidences about the interactions of the microbiota with the brain-gut axis.

Another factor for the recent development of the market is certainly the increased consumer awareness for the “friendly bacteria”. More than a century after Pasteur and Metchnikoff, we finally stop being scared by bacteria and start to comprehend that rather than fighting them at all price, we should be better off living with them and “utilizing” them. This recent trend is linked to the important marketing and educational efforts of some of the big players in the probiotic sector.
Finally, if market trends for natural, healthy life-style and diet explain the growing success of probiotics, changes in healthcare strategies could also play a part. As governments and insurance-based healthcare providers are striving to reduce the expenditure on health budgets and costs associated with it, turning towards a preventive vs. curative approach makes sense  and could be further promoted.

Market research studies predict that the probiotic food supplements market should experience sustained growth over the next 5 years. In light of the mentioned development andactual market trends, we can identify the key market drivers for the near future.

As consumers’ education and awareness advances, we believe that the market will follow the science and further differentiate. As the market reaches maturity, health-conscious consumers will move from the general idea of “good bacteria” and digestive balance to the concept that all probiotics are different and able to exert specific health benefits. As we already see it with vitamins and minerals food supplements for example, consumers will understand that no product can do it all. The demand will increase for targeted products for specific applications. Research on health benefits and technological development will allow the offering of new products targeting specific health issues but also population segments, with innovative and adapted formulation and galenic forms (children, seniors, active people, women…). Further down the road, nutrigenomics and the combination of a patient genetic make-up and microbiota profile could eventually lead to even higher specialization

Solid pre-clinical and clinical documentation of the finished formula are also essential. Probiotic providers will concentrate on both the efficacy of their product and their technological development, to guarantee quality and viability of the products. This is in line with recent call from the International Probiotic Association (IPA) to design a quality seal for probiotics. The association has defined a set of quality criteria including safety, clear identification of the probiotic strain, as well as viability and stability issues. Finally, further education efforts are necessary to continue develop the market.

In conclusion, the probiotic food supplement market still has good times ahead. Its future development shall be driven by the dynamic of probiotics research regarding the substantiation of health claims, consumer education, new areas of application, and product innovations within existing applications.

Isabelle Champié
Human Nutrition Brand Managerat
Institut Rosell-Lallemand

Since its market entrance, Neptune Krill Oil (NKO®) and its health-promoting properties have amazed consumers and healthcare professionals alike. Consumers have reported important improvements in their wellbeing and healthcare professionals have taken great measures to endorse NKO® due to its safety and effectiveness in several human therapeutic conditions. NKO® has demonstrated the ability to protect the heart, alleviate premenstrual syndrome, reduce arthritic pain, improve skin health, and enhance quality of life.

Neptune Krill Oil (NKO®) is a whole lipid oil extract of Euphausia superba (Antarctic krill), a shrimp-like creature inhabiting cold waters of the ocean. Antarctic krill have a life span of about 5 to 10 years and are considered to be a keystone species. According to published data, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) report that less than 2% of the precautionary catch limit is actually harvested and the actual total annual harvest of Antarctic krill equals about 0.15 % (or ~1/670) of the baleen whales krill consumption.

NKO® is distinct from every other marine oil due to the fact that the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, are attached to and carried by phospholipids. Phospholipids are a major component of all biological membranes and contribute to the membrane’s permeability and fluidity. Due to their amphipathic nature, having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties, phospholipids act as superior delivery systems. Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is quantitatively the most common type of phospholipids found in all membranes.

This article is available in full in the Winter 2009 issue of Nutraceuticals Now

Extending its innovative NutriPhy® range of phytonutrients launched in 2007, Danish ingredients company Chr. Hansen has launched a well-documented, standardized phytonutrient called NutriPhy® Lingonberry 100 for the dietary supplements industry. NutriPhy® Lingonberry 100 is a red-pinkish, spray-dried, free-flowing extract of Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. — better known as lingonberry. This new health ingredient was showcased at the Supply Side West trade show in Las Vegas in October 2008 and at the Health Ingredients Europe trade show in Paris in November 2008.

Small but highly nutritional

The lingonberry is a small red berry of the Ericaceae family growing in Scandinavia, Russia and Canada. The berries are used in preserves, jam, jelly, candy, syrup, pickles, juice beverages, and wine and they are appreciated for their nutritional properties. Indeed, the lingonberry fruit is not only rich in functional compounds such as fibres, minerals (copper, zinc, magnesium, and iron). It is also a so-called “superfruit” rich in antioxidants such as vitamins C, A and tocopherol (E) and especially in polyphenols like flavonols, phenolic acids, stilbenes, anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins.

This article is available in full in the Winter 2009 issue of Nutraceuticals Now

With the last true global credit crunch over 20 years ago, this will be the first time that the functional food market has weathered a recession of this kind. Tim Van der Schraelen, marketing & communication manager at BENEO-Orafti discusses what challenges food ingredients manufacturers and producers will have to overcome in 2009 and beyond.

Rising commodity prices are always one of the key measures of an economy under pressure and one look at these major UK retailers shows that premium priced products are already under pressure from changing buying patterns: Sir Stuart Rose, executive chairman of M&S, was credited as saying that customers were trading down - a factor that had affected its food business, where sales have slumped. He argues that M&S food still sits at the ‘top of the quality tree’, but it has had to slash prices to hold on to customers.  In addition, Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy reports the same phenomenon. Sales of its Finest food range as well as organic products have declined in the past six months as customers trade down.

Creativity pays dividends

Although the typical consumer of functional food products spends a comparatively small proportion of their disposable income on food, they are still becoming increasingly aware of what they are spending their money on and asking the question ‘is it worth it?’  To help them to answer this question and minimise the impact of the credit crunch on the health ingredients sector as a whole, functional food manufacturers will increasingly be called to furnish their clients with robust and relevant health claims that can be passed on to customers in new and innovative ways

This article is available in full in the Winter 2009 issue of Nutraceuticals Now