Nutrition 21, the dietary supplement ingredient manufacturer, has announced plans to begin selling its Chromax chromium picolinate ingredient to the functional food and beverage market after the product was granted GRAS status by an independent panel of experts.
Chromax is already widely used in dietary supplements but the GRAS (generally recognised as safe) status now means that the ingredient can also be used in foods such as nutrition bars and beverages.
Nutrition 21 said that the independent panel of experts approved Chromax as GRAS after careful review of an extensive dossier of safety data that was compiled by Environ, a leading science and regulatory consultant group.
"This new GRAS status now enables Nutrition 21 to generate incremental revenue by entering the rapidly growing $18 billion functional food and beverage market," commented Gail Montgomery, Nutrition 21's CEO. "Chromax is the perfect nutrient to formulate into products positioned to address many of the health and lifestyle issues that are of increasing concern to the American population, such as weight management, carbohydrate metabolism and cardiovascular health," she added.
"Our research indicates a rising consumer demand for food and beverage products with added nutritional benefits. However, food companies have indicated that their product development options are limited by the scarcity of functional ingredients which are generally recognised as safe and which have demonstrated clinical benefits. Chromax, with its proven health benefits, is perfectly suited to address both consumer and food industry needs," she concluded.