Phosphatidylserine (PS) wins first EU approval beyond food supplements
Swiss supplier Lonza submitted the application for its soy-based proprietary PS version, MemreePS, via the Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA) and after no objections, the approval will now apply across the bloc.
PS was previously accepted as safe in food supplements, with Lonza’s present applications seeking substantial equivalence with that earlier application.
The firm had already won approval in the US and China for varying food categories and it is approved for us in food supplements in the EU, Switzerland and Russia.
“The extension of the approval for MemreePS to food categories in Europe underlines our strategy of strengthening our product offers to the functional foods industry,” said Lonza head of nutrition marketing, Ilya Zhivkovich.
“We will continuously increase our efforts to position our ingredients in this branch through regulatory channels and scientific development.”
Studies have shown PS can benefit cognitive function and even arrest cognitive decline although the European Food Safety Authority has rejected three EU nutrition and health claim regulation (NHCR) submissions without assessing the data on the grounds that the nutrient was insufficiently characterised.
Heavily qualified PS brain health claims are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for dementia, cognitive dysfunction in the elderly.
