The health ingredient manufacturer’s decision to increase its presence in the European market is in response to its first venture in markets outside of the US.
“Whilst Setria Glutathione may have been nominally available in some European and Asian market since 2014 it has never been proactively marketed or sold here,” explained Karen Todd, senior director, global brand marketing for Kyowa Hakko.
“With its growing success in USA and Asia, the company decided to expand its sales into Europe, where a status evaluation by European authorities has deemed the ingredient suitable for use in food supplements.”
Classed as a tripeptide consisting of the three amino acids, glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine, the Setria Glutathione brand is sold in the US and Asia as an antioxidant ingredient.
Found in such foods like broccoli, garlic and spinach, the antioxidant is believed to have a number of functions including protection against oxidative stress, detoxification of toxins and carcinogens and regulation of protein function.
“Glutathione has been available for sale for many years,” Todd added. “We are now promoting our new branded Setria Glutathione that has science to support various areas within immune, sports nutrition and skin health.”
The science part
Glutathione has been the subject of much research, which suggests that a diet rich in glutathione or oral supplementation is proactive in its support of the body’s immune system.
The same study, supported by Kyowa Hakko, stated that oral glutathione supplementation represented one such strategy for protection against aging-related impairments in immune function and influenza infections.
“With age and poor diet glutathione becomes depleted and protecting ourselves against the damaging effects of free radicals becomes increasingly difficult,” Todd said.
“Many chronic and age-related diseases are thought to benefit from therapies that boost glutathione levels. The demand for glutathione increases, for example, in response to stress, weight gain, poor lifestyle choices, and normal aging. Glutathione can also become depleted by increased exposure to medications, toxins, heavy metals, solvents, pesticides, or alcohol.”
‘A high purity form of glutathione’
The issue with glutathione, as with most endogenous antioxidants, is its molecules are naturally reactive and don’t cope well with life on the shelf or the passage through the gastrointestinal tract.
Kyowa Hakko believes its proprietary fermentation process results in a high purity form of glutathione, vegetarian and allergen-free with no animal or human raw materials used.
As a result, the glutathione produced is a stabilized, reduced form and therefore more resistant to storage or digestive environments.