Lipid Nutrition’s gets FDA GRAS for PinnoThin

05-Oct-2010 - Last updated on 06-Oct-2010 at 14:59 GMT

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a letter of no objection for Lipid Nutrition’s PinnoThin ingredient, thereby confirming the Generally Recognised As Safe (GRAS) status of the ingredient.

"This latest success for PinnoThin further supports Lipid Nutrition’s commitment to scientifically based ingredients that provides healthy benefits for consumers,” said Katinka Abbenbroek, CEO of Lipid Nutrition. “PinnoThin is one of the more well researched satiety products available on the market today for functional foods that a food company could include in their product lines.”

The company self-affirmed the GRAS status of its ingredient in July 2008, but Patrick Luchsinger, marketing manager for Lipid Nutrition North America said that US food and beverage companies look for the FDA no objection support of ingredients.

Talking to NutraIngredients-USA, Luchsinger said: “We expect to see more food companies move forward with products within their innovation pipelines.” Interest has come from manufacturers of a range of food products, he added, including dairy, bakery, beverages, breakfast cereals, pasta, snack foods, soft candy, and soup.

Scientific support

The ingredient, containing the polyunsaturated fatty acid pinolenic acid derived from the seeds of the Korean pine nut tree (Pinus koraiensis) is reported to boost expression of the appetite-suppressing hormones (glucagon-like peptide-1) GLP-1 and cholecystokinin (CCK). The hormones are reported to work by delaying the emptying of the stomach (gastric emptying) and thereby promoting the feeling of fullness.

Indeed, a peer-reviewed study was published in the BioMed Central journal Lipids in Health and Disease in 2008 (7:6 doi:10.1186/1476-511X-7-6), which found the ingredient may also help reduce food consumption. Researchers from the University of Liverpool reported that at a dose of 2 grams free fatty acids (FFA) the ingredient was associated with a 9 percent reduction in food intake.

Market potential

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, by 2015, there will be more than 1.5 billion overweight consumers, incurring health costs beyond $117 billion per year in the US alone. Moreover, a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine reported 90 per cent of men and 70 per cent of women will eventually become overweight.

According to Euromonitor, the US retail market for food, beverage and supplement weight management products was valued at $3.64bn in 2009, compared to $3.7bn in 2008 and $3.93bn in 2005. Meanwhile, in Western Europe, the market was worth $1.3bn in 2009, while the eastern European market was valued at $407m in the same period.