Cognis extends Tonalin brand
for use in beverages, nutritional bars and dietary supplements, at
last week's Supply Side West show in Las Vegas, reports Philippa
Nuttall.
Tonalin, the brand name for Cognis' CLA (conjugated lonoleic acid) continues to see strong consumer interest because of clinical evidence that it works and thanks to an integrated marketing campaign, the company announced at the show.
The new form of CLA, described as a "high active water dispersible powder", and called 60 WDP, provides health benefits without adversely affecting the taste, texture or colour of the original product, says Cognis.
The ingredient "disperses quickly and stays suspended providing about 60 per cent of the two CLA isomers shown to have high biological activity", said the firm, which is benefiting from the global rise in numbers of overweight.
When the company released its first half results last week, it noted that an increase in sales in its Nutrition and Health division was due primarily to encouraging sales of CLA to the dietary supplements, pharmaceutical and healthcare markets.
The division registered sales of €148 million in the first two quarters of 2004, an increase of 5.7 per cent on the same period last year.
Tonalin has recently been included in the first food products through a new dairy range, opening up a new, potentially more profitable sector. Spanish company Corporación Alimentaria Peñasanta (CAPSA) launched the Naturlínea line of premium milk and orange juice drinks earlier this year.
The study credited with having boosted the product's sales is that which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in June demonstrating that supplements of CLA taken over one year reduced body fat mass in subjects. It also showed no difference in adverse effects compared to placebo over the study period.
