Vitamin Information Center

Lonza is to expand its production of vitamin B3 in a bid to meet growing demand for the ingredient from the food industry, the company has said.

The construction of a new nicotinate plant - an investment of CHF50m (€31.5m) - will ramp up current capacity by 40 percent, an addition of 15,000 metric tons of product per year.

Nicotinates, which include both nicotinic acid and nicotinamide, are vitamin B3 supplements used in the food, animal feed and pharmaceutical industries.

“The new capacity in nicotinates is important for us to be able to meet the long-term demands of our customers,” said Lukas Utiger, executive vice president of Lonza Life Science Ingredients.

Vitamin B3 growth

Indeed, strong growth for its nicotinates ingredients has been responsible for driving the overall performance of the firm’s nutrition ingredients, which fall under the Life Sciences arm.

In January this year, Lonza reported a 36 per cent increase in earnings, with total sales up by some 25 per cent to CHK2.8bn (€1.8bn).

According to an analysis of the European Vitamin B Market by Frost & Sullivan, the market was worth €415m (£280m) in 2005. This is anticipated to grow to €901m (£607m) by 2012, equivalent to a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 11.7 per cent for the sector.

Analysts at the firm said the growth of B-complex vitamins was being driven by a consumer interest towards self-medication.

The B vitamins act as coenzymes in numerous biochemical reactions in the body. They are essential for proper growth and maintenance of cells, tissue and organs.

Price hikes

The growth in demand for Lonza’s vitamin B3 has come in spite of price increases during the past year.

In July 2007, Lonza hiked vitamin B3 prices by 12 per cent.  In December 2007, the firm further increased its prices by as much as 17 percent.

The Swiss biotech company blamed the increases on a “continued” increase of raw materials, energy and transportation costs.

New plant

Lonza said it is still evaluating options for the location of its new plant, and will take into consideration the location of new market growth and opportunities for manufacturing and market synergies.

The new facility will also take advantage of innovations in technology and process development that are currently in pilot operations, said the firm.

“These innovations will provide cost and efficiency advantages to all the company’s nicotinate facilities,” it said.

According to Utiger, the “continued implementation of technologies and new processes (…) will secure our long-term cost leadership in this market.”

Lonza’s current manufacturing plants for nicotinates are located in Visp (Switzerland), Guangzhou (China), and Nansha (China).

The European Food Safety Authority has given the thumbs up to the use of mixed tocopherols and tocotrienol tocopherol as vitamin E sources in food supplements.

But its Panel on Scientific Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids and Materials in Contact with Food (AFC)concluded there was insufficient data for the safe use of tocotrienols as a supplements precursor.

An upper safe level of 300mg was established in 2003 for vitamin E (as d-alpha-tocopherol) by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) while the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has recommended daily consumption levels up to 2mg per kilogram of a person’s body weight.

It said other clinical studies demonstrated no adverse effects at levels up to 5mg per kg of body weight.

D-Alpha-tocopherol, one of the forms deemed safe by the AFC, is the major constituent of the naturally-sourced vitamin E that is more bioavailable than synthetic versions and therefore favoured by large segments of the European supplements industry.

Gamma-tocopherol is used in synthetic vitamin E which is more commonly found on the American market.

The judgement

“The three preparations, mixed tocopherols, tocotrienol tocopherol and tocotrienols are proposed to be used as sources of vitamin E,” AFC stated. “These sources contain varying amounts of tocopherols and tocotrienols.”

Its opinion did not relate to vitamin E itself, which was “outside the remit of this Panel. The present opinion deals only with the safety and bioavailability of three particular sources of vitamin E, intended for the general population, to be added in food supplements.”

It added: “Since the bioavailability and tissue distribution of tocotrienols appear to be different from that of tocopherols and since the specifications of the two tocotrienol preparations of the present opinion do not match the specifications [of a previous opinion], the only registered vitamin E additive which has specification including tocotrienols, safety assessment of these tocotrienol-containing preparations cannot be based on upper limits for vitamin E.”

It said, in regard to tocotrienol, that softgel capsules were the usual form of consumption and provided up to 1000mg of tocotrienols per day.

This would result in a daily intake of 16.7mg of tocotrienols  per kg body weight for a 60kg person - higher than the 5 mg/kg bw/day “frequently demonstrated to be without adverse effects in human studies.”

The AFC therefore concluded, “the available safety data are insufficient to conclude on the safety of the proposed use and use levels of the tocotrienols.”

The industry faced a crisis some years ago when a tightening of European Union Genetically Modified Organism traceability laws threatened the tocopherols-based natural vitamin E supply chain because of problems determining the non-GM credentials of the soy crops most naturally sourced vitamin E is derived from.

After a period of supply constriction, most major suppliers were however able to get their houses in order and produce the necessary paperwork

Market researcher Frost & Sullivan forecast the western European vitamin E market would grow from €72.4m in 2004 to about €105m in 2011.

There are eight forms of vitamin E: four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta).

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Encapsulating water-soluble ingredients in a whey protein-pectin complex could extend their use in acidic beverages, suggests new research from Canada.

At a protein:pectin ratio of 2:1 researchers from the Institute on Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods at Laval University in Quebec report that complexes containing the water-soluble vitamin thiamine could be prepared at pH 3.5, showing the potential of such vitamin-rich complexes for formulation in acidic beverages.

The research could tap into the growing market for functional drinks, reported to have enjoyed value growth at 18 per cent in 2006, according to a report by drinks company Britivic and market researcher Nielsen.

Well-being drinks, those which offer health benefits beyond basic nutrition, is the third fastest growing drinks category and has now reached £841m in value.

The new results suggest that the new vitamin complex could offer formulators a new way of fortifying acidic beverages with water-soluble ingredients, like thiamine.

“At pH 3.5 (in both methods of acidification), the thiamine content of the complexes … allows fulfilling the Recommended Daily Allowance of the vitamin for an adult male (1.4 mg), with 70-80 mg of the dry complexes,” wrote Gerard Bédié, Sylvie Turgeon, and Joseph Makhlouf in the journal Food Hydrocolloids.

The right path to thiamine encapsulation

The researchers tested three different ratios of low methoxyl pectin (LMP, donated by CP Kelco) to whey protein isolate (BiPRO WPI, Davisco Foods International) of 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2, and adjusted the pH of the solution to 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, and 2.5 either before or after blending.

The optimum results were achieved for a protein:pectin ratio of 2:1, wrote the researchers. Moreover, at a pH of 3.5 to 3.0, the maximum amount of thiamine was incorporated into the complex, regardless of pre- and post-blending acidification. Seven per cent thiamine was trapped for pre-blending and 4.5 per cent for post-blending.

“The characteristics associated with post-blending acidification at a protein:pectin ratio of 2:1 provided the best structure for thiamine entrapment,” wrote Bédié, Turgeon and Makhlouf.

“Although thiamine entrapment with both pre and post-blend systems indicated optimum entrapment at pH 3.5, which is appropriate for acidic foods, post-blending acidification may be preferred for hydro-soluble ingredients, considering the structural advantages of the resulting complexes.”

The researchers confirmed that studies were ongoing in their laboratory in order to elucidate “the effect of vitamin concentration on thiamine content of the complexes and the protective effect of the complexes on the entrapped-vitamin”.

Source: Food Hydrocolloids (Elsevier)
Volume 22, Issue 5, Pages 836-844
“Formation of native whey protein isolate-low methoxyl pectin complexes as a matrix for hydro-soluble food ingredient entrapment in acidic foods”
Authors: G.K. Bedie, S.L. Turgeon, J. Makhlouf

A new range of topical vitamins designed to counteract skin aging have been released marking the launch of Vitivia, the aesthetic division of US-based JSJ Pharmaceuticals.

The Pro:Vitamin line will add to the growing number of anti-aging products that are distributed through physicians offices, reflecting the company’s strong links in this area and the strength of the channel.

Achieving stability of the compounds

According to Vitivia the benefits of most topical vitamins have been limited by the inability to stabilize the compounds when exposed to air and light, which many companies have addressed by adding preservatives to the formulation.

However, the Pro:Vitamin products have an individualized dispensing system, which solves the problem of product stability, stated the company.

The range can then remain preservative free which Vitivia hopes will appeal to the modern consumer who is attracted by all things natural and chemical free.

Small biodegradeable capsules contain a daily dose of the formulation therefore offering the consumer a consistent product that offers the same formula on the first and last day of the treatment period.

Single vitamin formula

The Pro:Vitamin line includes three products - Pro Vit A15, Pro Vit C10 and Pro Vit E5 containing pure vitamin A, C and E respectively.

Pro Vit A15 contains vitamin A at 15 percent and promises to increase skin cell turnover rate, smooth fine lines and reduce skin inflammation.

Pro Vit C10 promises to protect against free radical damage and stimulate the synthesis of collagen, whereas vitamin E has been shown to reduce inflammation and enhance the activity of other antioxidant systems.

The fact that the vitamins appear individually in the formula sets the product apart from other topical vitamin formulas currently available on the market that usually offer a combined formulation.

This separation allows for greater individuality of treatment, although a consumer will be able to combine the products without any adverse affects, assured Betty Sweet from JSJ Pharmaceuticals.

Physician dispensing a natural step for Vitivia

As Vitivia is a division of JSJ Pharmaceuticals - a producer of prescription only skin treatments - the physician’s office seemed like a natural choice for the Pro:Vitamin line, explained Sweet.

The company has strong relationships within the medical community, she said, adding that depending on the success of the product line it may expand into other distribution networks in the future.

Similarly, the product range will be limited to US distribution for the time being.