Chr Hansen is anticipating a negative opinion on its 13.1 health claim submission for its BB12 probiotic this week, due to lack guidance from EFSA when it was made, and plans to re-submit under 13.5.
The European Commission today approved DuPont’s €4.5bn offer for Danish probiotics, enzymes and ingredients giant Danisco but the deal remains in doubt as to date only 6% of Danisco shareholders have accepted the offer.
Leading Chinese probiotics supplier, China-Biotics, has pressed a deal with the country’s third biggest dairy to expand the number of probiotic strains it uses in yoghurt products.
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) health claim panellist, professor Seppo Salminen, has co-edited a book investigating probiotic science and health claims, with a focus on regional differences.
The probiotic Bifidobacterium breve may be effective in increasing stool frequency in children with functional constipation, according to a new pilot study.
A 25-year probiotic research veteran says the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) rejection of a diarrhoea C. difficile-reducing health claim for Danone drinking yoghurt Actimel was flawed because it failed to consider the totality of the evidence in...
Global probiotics leader Danone has written a 14-page response to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in which it accuses the Parma-based agency of ignoring positive trial data and demands to see “minority opinions” among health claim panel decisions.
A recently established group of global gut health academics is sending letters to Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as well as national government politicians as the group attempts to alter the application of a regulation it says is, “killing...
A patent-pending probiotic technology developed by Belgian start-up Vésale Pharma is being eyed by major firms keen to develop products employing the technology’s stated bioavailability-boosting potential.
The Probiotics European Scientific League (PESL) is a new group that seeks to improve quality among probiotic supplements by increasing testing and certifying products that pass via a League logo.
A recently completed documentary about probiotics is being welcomed by the probiotics community with Danisco, the world’s biggest probiotics supplier saying it provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the microorganisms among the medical fraternity.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has rejected an article 13.5 claim that sought to link a probiotic cheese called Harmony with heart health benefits.
The pre- and probiotics community is seeking direct dialogue with the European Commission to force a rethink of immunity and gut health claims under the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR).
Swedish probiotics supplier and product manufacturer BioGaia has seen sales increase 16 per cent in 2010 to €27.77m from €23.08m in 2009, with after-tax profit increasing 31 per cent year-on-year to €5.35m.
Danisco’s executive board and members of its board of directors have accepted DuPont’s offer of DKK 665 per share, corresponding to 28,056 shares with a total value of DKK 18.7m, Danisco said on Wednesday.
European probiotic researchers are welcoming last week’s commitment to probiotic study by a major US government health and nutrition agency, with biomarker development a real possibility.
Pfizer has acquired the consumer healthcare business of Danish firm Ferrosan for an undisclosed fee in what the pharma giant says, “is an excellent strategic fit that strengthens our presence in dietary supplements”.
Danish start-up Bifodan has won the Frost & Sullivan 2010 Global Probiotics Technology Differentiation Award for its ProTarget probiotic protection technology.
Daily supplements of a blend of the bacterial strains Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 (Probio-Tec AB-25) was no better than placebo for maintaining remission of ulcerative colitis.
Analysts are saying Danisco could be carved up by its new owner DuPont, which they suggest is most interested in the Danish company’s enzymes for biofuels and that the food side of the business may be jettisoned.
Spore-forming probiotics such as Bacillus coagulans with higher heat resistance than commonly used strains have a bright future in sectors such as baked foods, according to a new review study.
Belgian probiotics player Vésale Pharma has applied to the European Patent Office (EPO) for a probiotic microencapsulation technology patent that can deliver probiotics into new blends such as high-dose vitamin C supplements.
In the second part of this special series on global outsourcing trends NutraIngredients explores how the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) is impacting activity in the contract research organisation (CRO) sector.
The effects of probiotics on gut health may be boosted by a symbiotic partnership with the supplementation of certain micronutrients, according to new research.
DuPont’s €4.9bn acquisition of Danish probiotics and sweeteners specialist Danisco this week is vindication of the increasing economic viability of functional foods, according to analysts.
The mainstreaming of functional foods has created an increasingly sophisticated nutritional landscape that is leading into food choices being driven by genetic expression, according to new market research.
Danish bioscience firm Chr. Hansen is raising its revenue predictions by 11-13 per cent for 2010/11 after what it describes as “strong growth” in its first quarter from the September 1, 2010 to the end of November.
Supplements containing a mix of probiotic bacteria and prebiotic fibers reduced the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms in children at risk of the condition, says a new study from the Netherlands.
DuPont expects to become a ‘premier specialty food ingredients provider’ as a result of acquiring Danisco, and expects it to be particularly complementary to its Solae soy protein business.
Leading European prebiotic and probiotic researchers have begun a campaign to change the EU’s health claims system that has so far unanimously rejected its science.
2010 has been another tough year for the European functional food and supplements industries as health claim rejections have continued to flood in, leaving some in a state of high anxiety, fear and dread. Others are just mildly annoyed at a situation...
French Canadian company Institut Rosell has agreed a seven-year partnership with Swedish probiotic research and the development firm Probi covering dietary supplements based on its bacterial Lp299v strain.
It’s been a bad year for good bacteria: A raft of negative health claims opinions from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has left many in the industry predicting trouble ahead for probiotics and prebiotics in Europe. But Professor Tine Rask Licht,...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed at its Board Management meeting last week that the resources do not exist to accommodate meetings between its health claims panel and parties before claim submissions are formally made.
Daily supplements of select probiotic strains may reduce the risk of premature birth, and the complications that results from being born pre-term, say two new studies.
Four groups with an interest in pre- and probiotics will today send a letter to the European Commission and European Food Safety Authority spelling out their ongoing concerns with the European Union health claims system that, to date, has unanimously...
The high rate of European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) immune health health claim rejections is likely to continue unless parameters of a well-functioning immune system can be defined, according to a Brussels-based industry group.
Differentiating between disease risk factors and disease reduction in the way that the 2006 nutrition and health claim regulation does is too arbitrary and needs revision, according to a German nutrition professor. But if such a change is needed, who...
Japanese probiotics giant Yakult says its recent EFSA probiotic health claim rejection discounted peer-review validated respiratory tract health measures, and called on the European Commission to facilitate a discussion on the matter.
Restoring a suppressed immune system to full-function could win a health claim, EFSA health claim panelist, Henk van Loveren said at last week’s gut/immune health meeting in Amsterdam.
Danone will contest the diarrhoea health claim rejection for its Actimel drinking yoghurt handed to it by the European Food Safety Authority this week.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has repeatedly emphasised that the 2006 EU nutrition and health claims regulation is a learning experience for everyone involved – from its health claims assessment panel to industry stakeholders, to the member...
Key members of the European pre- and probiotic industries left Amsterdam frustrated that the majority of their questions about immune and gut health claims remained unanswered after a meeting with the European Food Safety Authority’s health claims panel...
“It’s a critical issue to figure out how to show the health benefits with foods without crossing the borderline into medicines,” European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) NDA health claims panel working group member, Maria Saarela, told NutraIngredients at...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued its first positive health claim opinion for a prebiotic with a laxative effect – but it was not achieved via a typical prebiotic effect, according to a leading academic in the area.
Differences in the production of bacterial strains may change the potentially probiotic properties of resulting food, says a new study from Finland that ‘sets important prerequisites for quality control in probiotics’.
Probiotic-containing lozenges may reduce levels of three different pathogens in patients with chronic periodontitis, suggests a new study that also supports benefits for inflamed gums.
A probiotic strain that can survive being baked, boiled and frozen – opening up a raft of new opportunities in functional foods – is being launched on the UK market.