Cognis pushes body fat reduction product

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.

Furthermore, Cognis used the opportunity to officially launch a new form of CLA as a "high active water dispersible powder"​ suitable for use in beverages, nutritional bars and dietary supplements. Cognis says that 60 WDP, as the new ingredient is called, provides health benefits without adversely affecting the taste, texture or color of the original product.

The ingredient "disperses quickly and stays suspended providing about 60 percent of the two CLA isomers shown to have high biological activity"​, said the firm.

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.

"One important driver of CLA sales is the fact that it is no longer limited to dietary supplements, but can be used for food too,"​ a company spokesperson told NutraIngredientsUSA​. One example of this is the Spanish company Corporación Alimentaria Peñasanta​ (CAPSA,) which is using Tonalin in its Naturlínea dairy products range, including premium milk and orange juice drinks.

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.