Since their launch in the Irish and UK markets in 2007 the dietary and meal replacement products, branded as Celebrity Slim, have achieved significant growth levels, and Probiotec said the objective of its first dedicated European production facility is to build on the brand’s success in Europe.
Conor Fahey, regional director of the Irish employment development agency, Enterprise Ireland, told NutraIngredients.com that the meal replacement producer chose Dundalk, Co Louth for its European production base due to good port access to key markets, as well as a high level of expertise available in cleanroom manufacturing and food production in the region.
He said that the project, which will create 70 jobs, will also add significant value to locally sourced raw materials, particularly dairy ingredients.
International food group, Heinz, also has manufacturing facilities in Louth, and according to Fahey, sources a high percentage of its raw materials close to the base.
CEO of Probiotec, Wayne Stringer, in a statement said that the firms see the wider European market as offering serious potential for its products.
The Australian company was established in 1997 and employs 350 people. It manufactures prescription and over the counter pharmaceuticals and complementary medicines, in addition to its weight management products and speciality ingredients.
Stringer said Dundalk offers Probiotec the optimum base from which to realise its growth ambitions “to become a leading international provider of branded weight management and other speciality food products in this market.”
He added that it was intent on accelerating the project, with recruitment plans underway and shipping from Dundalk to begin by mid 2010.
Probiotec’s European expansion project comes on the heels of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) conclusion under article 13.1 late last month that there is solid scientific evidence on the cause-and-effect relationship between meal replacements for weight control and reduction in body weight, and maintenance of body weight after weight loss.
This makes them the first weight management claims to gain approval from EFSA’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA).
The opinion characterised meal replacements as providing between 25 per cent and 50 per cent of their energy in protein, not more than 30 per cent as fat, not less than 1g of linoleic acid (in the form of glycerides), and at least 30 per cent of the dietary reference values for adults of a range of vitamins and minerals, and at least 500 mg of potassium per meal.
“The Panel took into account that in the first meta-analysis provided, weight loss achieved with meal replacement products was significantly greater (almost double) than with conventional energy restricted diets prescribed with the same calorie content,” the NDA said.
“…biologically plausible mechanisms have been proposed by which meal replacements could exert the claimed effect, mostly in relation to their controlled energy content and relatively high protein, low fat content.”