Gm And Allergen Free Vitamin A

[kenlove]

GM and allergen free vitamin A from DSM

By Alex McNally

FoodProduction Daily.com / Europe

13-Feb-2008 - DSM Nutritional Products has said it will launch a new oily form of vitamin A which is both GM and allergen free.

The product will be available for dietary supplements, food applications as well as the personal care industry.

The new Vitamin A form uses medium chain triglycerides (MCT) as a carrier, thus guaranteeing ingredients free of genetically modified organisms and eliminating potential allergic reactions related to peanut oil, the firm said.

Mauricio Adade, president of DSM human nutrition and health, said: "This demonstrates the unique leadership position of DSM in developing state-of-the-art forms that fulfil market needs and consumer requirements in the human nutrition and personal care industries."

The oily form is intended to be used as an ingredient by DSM customers for applications such as soft gel capsules, liquid preparations and creams.

The move taps into the consumer appeal of products which are derived from a non-genetically modified (GM) source, as well as being allergen free.

A DSM spokesperson told NutraIngredients.com that developing this form of vitamin A was due to consumer demand.

DSM is not the first company to offer GM and allergen free vitamins.

BASF has created vegetarian variants of its vitamin E and beta-carotene for supplements that are also allergen-free.

Cognis has also gone down the non-GM road, and hoped a GM free vitamin E would help to revive depressed sales of its natural vitamin E in supplements and foods targeted at GM-wary consumers.

In 2006 the European Commission brought out guidelines which meant companies had to label all pre-packed foods if they contain any of the 12 listed allergenic foods as an ingredient.

The mandatory inclusion on food labels of the most common food allergen ingredients and their derivatives covers cereals containing gluten, fish, crustaceans, egg, peanut, soybeans, milk and dairy products including lactose, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seed, and sulphites.

According to the Food Standards Agency, the UK has more than 1.5m people who are allergic to one or more of these ingredients.

Vitamin A

The vitamin is thought to aid the immune system in fighting certain infections and inflammations, such as measles and infections caused by some food-poisoning organisms.

Indeed, the impact of vitamin A supplements on diarrhoea in children is reported to be due to an effect on the immune response in the intestine. The body's response to a gastrointestinal infection by organisms such as E. coli is inflammation, which reduces the colon's ability to absorb water and results in diarrhoea. In the developing world, diarrhoea is said to b the most common cause of death of young children, with over 1.5 million deaths annually.

Scientific studies have linked supplements of vitamin A to helping to protect children from malaria.

However, too much vitamin A can cause development defects in unborn babies according to the charity BDF Newlife.