Across the Nutraverse: NMN standards, oral probiotics, personalized nutrition in Japan, and more
US: Stratum Nutrition named N.A. distributor for Korean oral probiotics
OraTicx, a specialist in advanced oral probiotics based in Korea, has named Missouri-based Stratum Nutrition as its exclusive North American distributor for its oral probiotic formulations, according to NutraIngredients-USA.
The agreement covers OraTicx's live strains oraCMU (Weissella cibaria CMU) and oraCMS1 (Weissella cibaria CMS1), as well as the postbiotic form of oraCMU.
Stratum’s existing product portfolio already includes microbiome modulation ingredients such as Bimuno GOS prebiotic and LBiome Lactobacillus LB postbiotic.
According to Global Market Insights, the oral probiotic market was valued at US $2.5 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of over 6.5% between 2023 and 2032, possibly reaching $4.8 billion.
China: CNHFA drafts industry NMN standards to assess cross-border e-commerce products
China Nutrition and Health Food Association (CNHFA) has drafted a set of industry standards to measure nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) amounts in health supplements.
Aside from NMN amounts, the proposal has also come up with a formula to measure the purity of NMN.
In China, NMN is currently not yet approved for use in pharmaceuticals, health foods, as food additives or novel food raw material—the only exception is its use as a novel raw material in cosmetics.
Consumers can only purchase NMN supplements via cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) for personal use.
Read more on NutraIngredients-Asia.
UK: ASA rulings against Huel and Zoe spark controversy
Recent Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rulings against Huel and Zoe for misrepresenting celebrity investor Steven Bartlett's involvement have sparked online debate, prompting calls for the ASA to update its guidelines.
Advertisements displayed on Facebook earlier this year by the meal replacement brand and the microbiome tech company included Bartlett promoting products by businesses with which he has commercial relationships.
However, the ads were challenged for not disclosing his role as a director at Huel and investor in Zoe, which the independent regulatory body argued could mislead consumers.
In response, Mark Tallon, managing partner at food law consultancy Legal Foods, asked how the ASA could ban an advert since it is not statutory regulator with no legal enforcement powers to ban any advert.
Speaking to NutraIngredients-Europe, Tallon noted that the main concern is that the enforcement of laws should be handled by statutory regulators rather than private entities like the ASA.
Japan: Adults in 20s, 30s most interested in personalized nutrition
Japanese adults in their 20s and 30s are most interested in personalized nutrition as compared to the other age groups, a survey conducted by Suntory-backed start-up Rem3dy Health has found.
Among those in their 20s, more than half of those surveyed (53%) said they were either “interested” or “somewhat interested” in personalized nutrition.
A similar trend was also seen among those in their 30s, where 51% were either “interested” or “somewhat interested”.
