Ingredion Strengthens Functional Fiber Portfolio with Benicaros Acquisition
Ingredion has completed an asset acquisition of Benicaros, a prebiotic carrot fiber developed by NutriLeads. The deal gives Ingredion full ownership of the ingredient's IP, trademarks, clinical data and manufacturing know‑how. Benicaros, marketed as a precision prebiotic, received GRAS clearance from the FDA and regulatory approvals in the EU, Asia‑Pacific and Brazil. The addition expands Ingredion's functional ingredients portfolio, which generated about $7.2 billion in net sales in 2025.
Holland & Barrett Rebuilds Asia Presence with DFI Retail Group
Holland & Barrett has re‑entered the Asian market through an exclusive distribution deal with DFI Retail Group, which will stock its vitamins and supplements in Guardian Singapore stores and online. The partnership also extends to Hong Kong, with additional markets slated for...
How Lactalis’ Protein Works Deal Sharpens Its Active Nutrition Focus
Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy group, has bought UK‑based active nutrition brand Protein Works, marking its first major foray into the fast‑growing functional‑food segment. Protein Works, which recently invested roughly $12.5 million in a vertically integrated production hub near Liverpool, saw...
Holland & Barrett Flags Brain Health Nutrient Gaps
Holland & Barrett (H&B) highlighted global gaps in key brain‑health nutrients, noting widespread deficiencies in iron, iodine, choline and omega‑3 fatty acids. Internal data show most consumers fall short of optimal intake, with over 75% of countries under‑consuming omega‑3s and top‑selling...
Mintel Reveals Top Taste Trends Driving Food and Beverage Formulation
Mintel’s new report finds nostalgic bakery, dessert and chocolate flavors are driving innovation in dietary supplements, turning them into indulgent experiences. Consumers favor natural, botanically‑derived flavors over artificial ones, prompting a shift toward clean‑label ingredients. Social media heavily influences Gen Z...
Study: Red Sage More Effective than Saw Palmetto for Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
A 12‑week, double‑blind pilot study compared a proprietary red sage extract (SAGX) with saw palmetto in 30 men aged 40‑80 who have mild‑to‑moderate lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The SAGX group achieved a 4.6‑point drop in the International Prostate Symptom...
Across the Nutraverse: Singapore’s Longevity Investment, Alzchem Creatine Supply, NI USA Awards Finalists
Singapore’s government is allocating SGD 350 million (≈ $273 million) to a Grand Challenge focused on brain health, physical function, and socio‑environmental innovations for healthy longevity. German supplier Alzchem, the sole non‑Asian producer of creatine monohydrate, announced a $131 million investment in a new facility...
From Lifespan to Cellspan: How Dsm-Firmenich Is Reframing Longevity Innovation
DSM‑Firmenich is pivoting from traditional condition‑based health claims to a cellular‑level longevity strategy, targeting four modifiable hallmarks of aging—chronic inflammation, gut microbiome, mitochondrial function, and cellular senescence. The company is developing ingredient blends that can influence these pathways and stresses...
China Moves to Rein in Livestream Ads with New Draft Rules
China's State Administration for Market Regulation has released draft rules to tighten oversight of health‑related advertising on livestream commerce platforms. The measures target pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health foods and foods for special medical purposes, requiring platforms to review ads, issue...
Novel Polyphenol-Based Ingredient Could Boost Distance Running
Researchers from Amino Up and the Sapporo EXCEL Athlete Club published a randomized, double‑blind, placebo‑controlled trial showing that Oligonol, a low‑molecular‑weight lychee polyphenol, increased endurance performance in older long‑distance runners. Over a 60‑day period, participants taking 200 mg of Oligonol daily...
NutraCast: Tingling-Free Beta-Alanine Opens up New Opportunities in Active Nutrition
Natural Alternatives International launched CarnoSyn 4X, a next‑generation beta‑alanine that eliminates the familiar tingling sensation. The ingredient uses a proprietary hydro‑oleo delivery system that the company claims delivers up to four times the bioavailability of traditional beta‑alanine at lower doses. By...
Epax’s Cetoleic Acid Supplement Shows Promise for Cardiovascular Health
Researchers at the University of Bergen found that an eight‑week regimen of Epax’s cetoleic acid concentrate (CECO) cut LDL‑cholesterol by 7% in 75 overweight or obese adults. The double‑blind trial gave participants 4 g of the herring‑oil derived supplement daily, matching...
Chardonnay By-Product May Improve Cardiovascular Health
Scientists from UC Davis, Sonomaceuticals and the USDA found that a high‑dose Chardonnay grape marc blend lowered post‑prandial triglyceride spikes in adults with mild dyslipidemia. In a 16‑week double‑blind crossover trial, participants taking 1,500 mg of the marc supplement showed a...
Alzchem Confronts Capacity Pressures as Demand for Creatine Booms
Alzchem is grappling with capacity constraints as global demand for creatine monohydrate spikes, driven by new high‑purity products like Jenerise’s precision‑grade offering. The German chemical maker’s European plant is operating near full capacity, prompting discussions of costly expansion projects. Industry...
GABA Supplement May Improve IBS-D Symptoms
Italian researchers conducted a double‑blind, placebo‑controlled crossover pilot study evaluating a GABA‑Melissa officinalis supplement in 18 IBS‑D patients. Over two four‑week treatment periods, the supplement (250 mg GABA + 50 mg Melissa extract three times daily) improved the IBS symptom severity score in 66.7%...
Influencer-Led Education: Inside Balchem’s New Consumer Awareness Strategy
Balchem is shifting from a B2B ingredient supplier to a B2C storyteller by launching an influencer‑driven campaign for its OptiMSM MSM ingredient. The company teamed up with two celebrity dermatologists reaching about three million followers and six beauty influencers, resulting...
Healthy Longevity: S’pore Pours $350m Into Brain, Physical Function Research
Singapore announced a SGD $350 million (≈US $255 million) Grand Challenge to boost research on brain health, physical function and socio‑environmental innovations for healthy longevity. The initiative, part of the RIE 2030 plan, invites industry, academia and public institutions to co‑develop and test solutions, with...
NutraCast: How Supplement Brands Can Become the Default Answer in AI
AI is reshaping how supplement brands achieve online visibility, moving from traditional SEO to generative engine optimization (GEO). Large language models prioritize frequent, consistent brand mentions across diverse channels rather than isolated website content. Experts warn that inconsistent product names...
Vitamin Shoppe COO on Omnichannel and AI Opportunities
The Vitamin Shoppe’s COO, Andrew Laudato, outlined an omnichannel strategy that treats its 650 U.S. stores as distribution hubs, enabling buy‑online‑ship‑from‑store (BOSS) fulfillment and same‑day delivery. The retailer pairs this network with AI tools, from Microsoft Copilot for staff productivity...
Personalized Nutrition Platform Shows Promising Results on Behavior and Gut Health
Researchers in Portugal and Spain evaluated the AI‑driven GENIE platform, which tailors dietary advice using genetic, microbiome and biochemical data. In a month‑long study of 1,177 shoppers from Spanish retailer Ametller Origen, 71% of participants followed at least part of...
Probiota Pioneer: ClostraBio on Spinnning Out the Single Bacterial Species Abundant in Non-Allergic Individuals
ClostraBio is commercializing CLB101, a next‑generation probiotic derived from the strict anaerobe Anaerostipes caccae, which directly produces butyrate in the lower gut. The strain achieved GRAS self‑affirmation in June 2025 after extensive safety testing and has been scaled up through a...
Does Baseline Dietary Fiber Intake Alter Benefits of Prebiotic Supplementation?
Researchers conducted a randomized, double‑blind, placebo‑controlled trial with 124 healthy adult men to evaluate Nutriose, a resistant dextrin fiber supplement, on gut microbiota. Participants were grouped by baseline fiber intake—low (≤15 g/day) or high (≥25 g/day)—and received 15 g/day Nutriose or placebo for...
Caffeine Intake Before Exercise May Aid Breakdown of Fats in Overweight Women
A double‑blind crossover trial found that a caffeine dose of 3 mg per kilogram body weight most effectively boosts fat oxidation during FATmax exercise in overweight female college students, without triggering cardiovascular strain. Doses of 5 mg/kg also raised fat oxidation but...
PLT Targets ‘Experiential Longevity’ with New Joint Health Ingredient
PLT Health Solutions announced a new Longevity Initiative that splits its focus between Cellular Longevity—mechanistic, biomarker‑driven solutions—and Experiential Longevity, which aims to deliver benefits consumers can feel now. The strategy, unveiled at Vitafoods Europe in Barcelona, targets younger buyers who...
Probiota Pioneer: Kioga on Reclaiming ‘Old Friends’ for Balanced State
Kioga, founded in 2025 by psychoneuroimmunology expert Christopher Lowry and CEO Justin Whiteley, is commercializing soil‑derived microbes—dubbed “Old Friends”—to create postbiotic ingredients that modulate the gut‑immune‑brain axis. Its flagship product, NeuroAlly, targets neuroinflammation and has completed a randomized, placebo‑controlled human...
Healthy Extracts Acquires Imaraïs Beauty to Expand Beauty-From-Within Footprint
Healthy Extracts announced the acquisition of Imaraïs Beauty, a brand sold at Ulta, Target, Nordstrom and soon CVS, to deepen its foothold in the fast‑growing beauty‑from‑within segment. The deal leverages Imaraïs’ retail reach and influencer Sommer Ray’s 40 million‑strong audience alongside Healthy...
European Expansion Through Replication: The Costly Regulatory Pitfall
European supplement firms often assume a uniform EU regulatory regime, only to encounter fragmented national rules that trigger costly relabeling, product withdrawals, and reputational damage. While Directive 2002/46/EC provides a common baseline, each Member State interprets tolerances, notification procedures, and ingredient...
Jenerise Launches Precision-Grade Creatine Monohydrate
Jenerise has introduced Cr.01, a precision‑grade creatine monohydrate designed for performance, cognition, and healthy ageing. The ingredient boasts 99.96% assay purity, 200‑mesh solubility, and batch‑by‑batch verification by SGS. It complies with FDA USP and EFSA standards and adheres to strict...
Planttech Carob Concentrate Improves Insulin Sensitivity in Participants with Elevated Glucose
Planttech’s LVLD carob concentrate, standardized for D‑pinitol and other inositols, showed statistically significant improvements in HbA1c, fasting glucose, and insulin sensitivity in a 90‑day randomized, double‑blind trial with 52 pre‑diabetic adults. Participants took 6.66 g daily, split before lunch and dinner,...
Heat-Treated Postbiotic Linked to Skin Elasticity Gains in Clinical Trial
Japanese researchers conducted an eight‑week, double‑blind, placebo‑controlled trial of heat‑treated *Latilactobacillus sakei* KABP‑065 in 60 healthy women aged 30‑50. Participants taking the postbiotic capsule showed statistically significant improvements in skin elasticity, with the most pronounced gains in women in their...
Beetroot’s Endurance Benefits: New Study Shines Light on Mechanism of Action
A pilot study published in Nutrients found that a seven‑day regimen of Nobeet, a beetroot‑based nitrate supplement, boosted nitric oxide metabolites (NOx) in plasma and urine by 155%. The trial, involving ten male triathletes aged around 48, also showed rises...
Educate, Entertain, or Be Out of the Game: Marketing Award Winner Reveals Top Social Media Tips
Sunna Van Campen, winner of NutraIngredients Europe’s Marketing Initiative of the Year, explained how his startup Tonic built a 1.6 million‑strong audience on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok by treating social platforms as education and entertainment channels rather than product showcases. The...
Science Shorts: Vitamin D, Postbiotics, HMB Protein, NMN in the Spotlight
A series of recent clinical studies highlight emerging functional ingredients that deliver measurable health benefits. A chocolate wafer delivering 400‑800 IU vitamin D normalized serum levels in 65% of deficient Indian women within three months, while a heat‑inactivated Lactiplantibacillus postbiotic reduced gingival...
Arborea and Vita Actives Partner to Accelerate Premium Spirulina Category
Arborea and Vita Actives have teamed up to launch BioSolar Spirulina, a premium micro‑algae ingredient produced in a sealed, closed‑system that promises consistent nutrition and improved taste. The partnership, announced at Vitafoods Europe, will bring the ingredient to food, beverage and...
TopGum Completes PLD Gummy Manufacturing Acquisition
Israeli functional gummy maker TopGum completed the acquisition of a New York FDA‑compliant manufacturing facility for up to $35 million, marking its first U.S. production site. The plant will enable pharmaceutical‑grade gummy production and supports a commercial agreement to supply store‑brand...
EFSA Issues Positive Safety Opinion on EffePharm’s NMN
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued a positive safety opinion that a daily intake of 300 mg of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) is safe for the general EU population, excluding pregnant and lactating women. The opinion now moves to the European...
Brightseed Expands Bioactive Dataset to 21M Compounds
Brightseed announced that its bioactive compound dataset has surged to roughly 21 million entries, almost twice the size of its 2023 collection. The expansion is driven by new microbial and fungal coverage and advances in profiling and AI analysis. The larger...
PharmaLinea Rides Surge in Functional Hydration Demand
PharmaLinea’s sugar‑free Hydramin stick packs, powered by its proprietary AminoAbsorb technology, have become the company’s most successful launch, fueling growth as functional hydration expands beyond athletes. At the Vitafoods Europe show, the firm demonstrated rapid wellness tests and announced two...
Daily Vitamin D Chocolate Wafer Achieves Sufficiency in Three Months, Study Suggests
A double‑blind trial in India tested vitamin D‑fortified chocolate wafers delivering 0, 400, 600 or 800 IU daily to 108 young women with deficiency. After 12 weeks, 65.4% of the 800 IU group reached sufficiency (≥20 ng/mL), compared with 37.0% at 600 IU and 26.9%...
Postbiotics Use Reduces Gingival Inflammation - Japan Study
A double‑blind, placebo‑controlled trial in Japan found that a gummy containing 500 mg of heat‑inactivated Lactiplantibacillus pentosus ONRICb0240 significantly reduced gingival inflammation over six weeks. Participants taking the postbiotic showed bleeding on probing fall from 17.6% to 12.3% and a Gingival...
Behind the Scenes Tour: From Ingredients to the Shelf
Women in Nutraceuticals organized a behind‑the‑scenes tour of Adept Life Sciences, Arizona Custom Blends and 21st Century HealthCare, revealing the full supplement supply chain from raw ingredient testing to shelf‑ready bottles. Each company isolates incoming materials, conducts identity and microbiological...
Laird Superfood Acquires Terrasoul Superfoods Backed by $60M Venture Capital Investment
Laird Superfood announced the acquisition of Terrasoul Superfoods, adding in‑house sourcing, processing, packaging and an established e‑commerce platform to its portfolio. The transaction is financed by a $60 million Series A convertible preferred stock placement, giving Nexus affiliates roughly 71.7% ownership on...
Across the Nutraverse: Chemist Warehouse to Enter the UK, H&B Partners with Phlo, NutraIngredients Europe Awards
Australian discount pharmacy giant Chemist Warehouse is entering the UK through a joint venture with London‑based GreenLight, converting up to five stores to its low‑margin, high‑volume format. The deal gives Sigma Healthcare a 75% stake, leveraging its recent merger with...
Kerry Group Aims to Dispel Misinformation with Safeguard Ashwagandha Platform
Kerry Group has launched SafeguardAshwagandha.com, an open‑access portal that aggregates scientific studies, regulatory updates, and safety analyses for the ashwagandha botanical. The site invites other ingredient suppliers to contribute data, aiming to counter myths and guide evidence‑based policy discussions. Kerry’s...
Protein Webinar to Uncover Trends, Science, Formulation Tips and More
The upcoming on‑demand webinar “Protein for the Niche and Mass Market” will dissect the fast‑moving protein nutrition landscape across the Asia‑Pacific, from protein powders to protein ice cream. It features a Q&A with Amul’s brand manager, scientific insights from Dr....
Protein in India: ITC Says Market Opportunities Plenty Despite More Competition
ITC Foods is expanding its presence in India’s fast‑growing protein market by adding protein‑rich versions of staple foods such as atta, oats, and snacks. The company’s recent launches—including Yoga Bar protein treats, Sunfeast Breakfast Smoothie, and the “Right Shift” line...
Holland & Barrett Partners with Weight Loss Drugs Provider
Holland & Barrett has teamed up with weight‑loss drug provider Phlo to feature the service across its physical stores and e‑commerce platform. The partnership aims to give UK consumers access to clinically supervised weight‑management options while the retailer only signposts, avoiding...
FrieslandCampina Invests €90M in Whey Protein for Sports Nutrition
FrieslandCampina Ingredients is allocating €90 million (about $98 million) to boost whey protein capacity at three Dutch sites—Bedum, Veghel and Workum—aiming for full operational output by 2028. The expansion targets the fast‑growing sports, lifestyle, early‑life and medical nutrition markets, building on recent...
Trend Tracker: HMO Innovations, Social Commerce Strategies, Sports Nutrition
Regulatory approvals for human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are expanding across Asia‑Pacific, positioning HMOs as a core ingredient in next‑generation infant formulas and promising lower prices. In China, health‑supplement makers such as Haleon’s Centrum and BYHEALTH are intensifying Douyin‑centric e‑commerce and...
Six-Month Trial Confirms Safety of Previously Uncharacterized Probiotic Strain
A six‑month, double‑blind trial involving 152 healthy adults found that daily consumption of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum K014 (≥1 × 10⁹ CFU) was safe, with blood counts, glucose, lipid, liver and kidney markers remaining within normal ranges. No adverse events were reported, and exploratory analyses suggested...