Consumed regularly Alpro Soya Plus with added plant sterols will cut cholesterol by up to 20 per cent, claims the company.
Alpro commercial director John Allaway told NutraIngredient’s sister title, The Grocer (thegrocer.co.uk): "There is a large group of consumers who want to lower their cholesterol levels but who cannot or do not want to eat dairy.
Cholesterol reduction
“Flora pro.activ and Benecol have done a good job as far as cholesterol reduction is concerned, but we think there is certainly a gap in the market for a soya option."
The product will be launched with a retail selling price of £1.35/litre in Tesco outlets from next month.
The Alpro brand was valued at £65m in the 52 weeks to the end of last October, up 2% on the same period of the previous year, according to Nielsen MAT value sales.
Alpro Soya Plus, claimed to be the UK’s first soya product with functional food properties follows the company’s launch last September of its first-ever carbon-neutral soya milk.
Heart attack
Meanwhile, too much cholesterol in the blood (hypercholesterolaemia) is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Together, these are the main cause of death in Europe, according to the World Health Orgnisation.
Two out of three adults in the UK have high cholesterol, according to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
Blood cholesterol is measured in units called millimoles per litre of blood, often shortened to mmol/L. The government recommends that cholesterol levels should be less than 5mmol/L, according to the NHS.
In the UK, two out of three adults have a total cholesterol level of 5mmol/L or above. On average, men in England have a cholesterol level of 5.5mmol/L and women have a level of 5.6mmol/L, .
The UK population has one of the highest average cholesterol concentrations in the world, according to the NHS.