Inulin gains Malaysian gut health approval

11-Dec-2008 - Last updated on 11-Dec-2008 at 14:02 GMT

Dutch inulin specialist, Sensus, has won approval for an inulin gut health claim in Malaysia, with other south east Asian countries in its sights.

The approval, granted in October y the Malaysian Ministry of Health after Sensus submitted a dossier containing about 30 studies 12 months ago, succeeded in lowering the requisite dose to make the claim from 1.25g to 2g per serving.

This brings it in line with the dosage required to make a gut health claim for inulin’s sister ingredient, oligofructose.

Dosage parity

Studies had shown gut health benefits could be attained at lower dosages, the company said.

While Sensus had a presence in the Malaysian and other Asian markets, its scientific and regulatory affairs manager, Diederick Meyer, said the lower dose would make inulin and oligofructose ingredients more appealing to food and beverage makers.

“The 2g limit was too high,” Meyer told NutraIngredients.com. “This will help the Malaysian food industry to incorporate the ingredients and claims into their products.”

Sensus’s inulin ingredients already appear in Malaysian foods including dairy, bakery, beverages and infant nutrition.

Meyer said the prebiotic sell was more complex than that of, say, the regularity-boosting benefits of fibre, but Malaysians were becoming interested in gut health.

It had been involved in education campaigns with its food and beverage partners and continued to do so.

Three claims were approved for products containing more than 1.25g of inulin.

Inulin helps increase intestinal bifidobacteria and helps maintain a good intestinal environment.
Inulin is bifidogenic.
Inulin is prebiotic.

Meyer said the same dossier had been submitted to the European Commission for assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) under article 13 of the nutrition and health claims regulation.

“I am confident this generic claim relating inulin to gut health will be approved,” he said.

Sensus is one of the three big players in the global inulin business, along with Belgian companies, Beneo-Orafti and Cosucra, and has an office in Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia’s capital city.

The company said inulin offered mouthfeel benefits while oligofructose delivered more on solubility.