Ocean Spray: ‘We need antioxidant biomarker support’

A European Union health claim rejection hasn’t dampened the spirits of global cranberry leader, Ocean Spray, which has continued to invest in science for urinary tract infections and frontier areas.

At the recent NutraIngredients Antioxidants 2010 conference in Brussels, research sciences manager, Dr Christina Khoo, outlined areas Ocean Spray is moving into such as immunity and heart health.

She called on the scientific community and industry to “come and support biomarkers” such as LDL cholesterol oxidation, which were cited as a reason Ocean Spray’s article 13.5 health claim submission was rejected by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Khoo said Ocean Spray had not yet committed to a resubmission as it was monitoring guidance emanating from EFSA’s Parma, Italy headquarters.

“We want to make sure we are following the criteria that they are more recently providing,” Khoo said.

“Certainly we have the science to show and we continue to provide more science to support so eventually I am sure we will come to some common ground with EFSA.”