DuPont’s €4.9bn acquisition of Danish probiotics and sweeteners specialist Danisco this week is vindication of the increasing economic viability of functional foods, according to analysts.
The mainstreaming of functional foods has created an increasingly sophisticated nutritional landscape that is leading into food choices being driven by genetic expression, according to new market research.
Danish bioscience firm Chr. Hansen is raising its revenue predictions by 11-13 per cent for 2010/11 after what it describes as “strong growth” in its first quarter from the September 1, 2010 to the end of November.
Supplements containing a mix of probiotic bacteria and prebiotic fibers reduced the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms in children at risk of the condition, says a new study from the Netherlands.
The author of a high-profile study suggesting that a daily Yakult dose could reduce the incidence and severity of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) has hit back at criticism of his paper by EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority).
DuPont expects to become a ‘premier specialty food ingredients provider’ as a result of acquiring Danisco, and expects it to be particularly complementary to its Solae soy protein business.
European launches of probiotic drinks may have declined in recent years but analysts remain confident that the category still has strong global potential.
Leading European prebiotic and probiotic researchers have begun a campaign to change the EU’s health claims system that has so far unanimously rejected its science.
2010 has been another tough year for the European functional food and supplements industries as health claim rejections have continued to flood in, leaving some in a state of high anxiety, fear and dread. Others are just mildly annoyed at a situation...
French Canadian company Institut Rosell has agreed a seven-year partnership with Swedish probiotic research and the development firm Probi covering dietary supplements based on its bacterial Lp299v strain.
Flavanol compounds derived from cocoa may boost the populations of beneficial bacteria in the intestine, says a new study from Mars and the University of Reading.
It’s been a bad year for good bacteria: A raft of negative health claims opinions from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has left many in the industry predicting trouble ahead for probiotics and prebiotics in Europe. But Professor Tine Rask Licht,...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed at its Board Management meeting last week that the resources do not exist to accommodate meetings between its health claims panel and parties before claim submissions are formally made.
Daily supplements of select probiotic strains may reduce the risk of premature birth, and the complications that results from being born pre-term, say two new studies.
Four groups with an interest in pre- and probiotics will today send a letter to the European Commission and European Food Safety Authority spelling out their ongoing concerns with the European Union health claims system that, to date, has unanimously...
Danisco has nudged up its full year outlook after a strong Q2, and is cautiously positive that mitigation measures will protect its enablers division from the raw material hikes on the horizon.
The high rate of European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) immune health health claim rejections is likely to continue unless parameters of a well-functioning immune system can be defined, according to a Brussels-based industry group.
Differentiating between disease risk factors and disease reduction in the way that the 2006 nutrition and health claim regulation does is too arbitrary and needs revision, according to a German nutrition professor. But if such a change is needed, who...
Japanese probiotics giant Yakult says its recent EFSA probiotic health claim rejection discounted peer-review validated respiratory tract health measures, and called on the European Commission to facilitate a discussion on the matter.
Restoring a suppressed immune system to full-function could win a health claim, EFSA health claim panelist, Henk van Loveren said at last week’s gut/immune health meeting in Amsterdam.
Danone will contest the diarrhoea health claim rejection for its Actimel drinking yoghurt handed to it by the European Food Safety Authority this week.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has repeatedly emphasised that the 2006 EU nutrition and health claims regulation is a learning experience for everyone involved – from its health claims assessment panel to industry stakeholders, to the member...
Key members of the European pre- and probiotic industries left Amsterdam frustrated that the majority of their questions about immune and gut health claims remained unanswered after a meeting with the European Food Safety Authority’s health claims panel...
“It’s a critical issue to figure out how to show the health benefits with foods without crossing the borderline into medicines,” European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) NDA health claims panel working group member, Maria Saarela, told NutraIngredients at...
Danisco has completed the next phase of its cultures capacity expansion with the opening of modernised and enlarged facilities in Epernon, France, allowing it to reduce response times for DVI cultures.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued its first positive health claim opinion for a prebiotic with a laxative effect – but it was not achieved via a typical prebiotic effect, according to a leading academic in the area.
Research in North America, Europe and Asia shows that consumers understand fibre and the potential health benefits, and there is a strong consumer demand, says Tate & Lyle’s Sandra Einerhand.
Differences in the production of bacterial strains may change the potentially probiotic properties of resulting food, says a new study from Finland that ‘sets important prerequisites for quality control in probiotics’.
Probiotic-containing lozenges may reduce levels of three different pathogens in patients with chronic periodontitis, suggests a new study that also supports benefits for inflamed gums.
A probiotic strain that can survive being baked, boiled and frozen – opening up a raft of new opportunities in functional foods – is being launched on the UK market.
Positive European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) health claims linking iodine, iron and children’s development have been adopted and written into the EU legislature.
Probi says its business will not be affected by a recent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ruling that there is not enough evidence linking a proprietary probiotic strain to a decrease in potentially harmful pathogens in the gut.
Supplements of probiotic bacteria combined with dietary counseling may reduce the risk of becoming overweight or obese after pregnancy, suggests a new study from Finland.
Ice creams with added pre- or probiotics can be formulated to have good nutritional and sensory properties, according to research, with careful balancing of the recipe to ensure acceptable taste, texture and colour.
Much more is known about how probiotics work in the gut, than for the skin, but it seems there are signals coming from gut micro-organisms to the skin and mucosa that may allow interaction between probiotics in the gut and effects on the skin.
Yakult Europe has signalled its desire to talk to EFSA about the evaluation process and scientific criteria that led to the negative outcome of its proposed health claim on upper respiratory tract health, but pledges to take the decision into account...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced that its gut health and immunity workshop to be held in Amsterdam on December 2 will be webcast live.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled against a UK start-up for making unauthorised medicinal claims about a lactoferrin-based skin health supplement.
Feeding infants with a new prebiotic-enriched formula may reduce the incidence of atopic dermatitis by 44 percent, says new data from a Danone Research study.
Malta will host the second World Congress on Immunity Ingredients on October 28 where a science-led programme focusing on antioxidants, prebiotics and probiotics will unfold.
NutraIngredient’s Snack Size Science brings you the week's top science every two weeks. This week we look at how probiotics may help keep babies healthy. A healthy baby is a happy baby.
Magazine adverts for follow-on formula containing prebiotics and omega-3s have been rapped in the UK for making brain health claims unauthorised by the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR).
The Beauty from Within conference, brought to you by CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com and NutraIngredients.com, is only a week away and will uncover how you can get the most out of this emerging sector.
Mapping how the gut microbiota respond to probiotic strains may help produce a framework for “evaluating and optimizing probiotic-based functional foods”, say researchers from Danone and Harvard.
Chr. Hansen has launched new cultures specifically to improve the texture and mouthfeel of drinking yoghurts so manufacturers do not have to turn to thickeners.
French probiotic leader Danone, Swedish dairy firm Skånemejerier and ingredient supplier Probi yesterday closed a three-way probiotic juice deal, bringing the firms one step closer to an international launch of the ProViva brand.
Bacterial vaginosis is considered the most common cause of vaginal infection among pregnant and non-pregnant women. In this scenario, the oral intake of...
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