The ingredient comes from a partnership between KD Pharma Group’s Marine Ingredients (providing the omega-3) and Stratum Nutrition (providing the branded eggshell membrane called NEM).
“We started talking about the opportunity to blend the omega-3 and the NEM product from Stratum to focus on a general activity, joint concept,” Dr. David Barnes, COO and head of global R&D at Marine Ingredients, told NutraIngredients-USA at the show.
The ingredient’s launch comes at a time when many finished brand formulators are featuring omega-3 in combination with other ingredients as an opportunity to excite consumers and spark more action into the mature omega-3 category.
“We’re leveraging the understanding of omega-3s and their value on inflammatory pathways with what Stratum has done in demonstrating the value of their ingredient in many of the same conditions,” Barnes added.
There are no clinical trials looking at the two bioactives in combination, yet. But the NEM-branded eggshell membrane ingredient alone, which contains naturally occurring chondroitin, collagen, and trace amounts of carotene, among other things, has a suite of 12 published clinical trials supporting its joint health benefit, Barnes continued.
The most recent example is a placebo-controlled trial published earlier this year in the journal Clinical Interventions in Aging, which looked at 60 healthy post-menopausal women. The group supplemented with NEM reported significantly reduced discomfort following exercise compared to the placebo group.
Powder and oil blended into a capsule
At this stage, capsules are the best delivery format for the new ingredient, Barnes added. Chris Haynes, director of global sales for human & pet at Stratum Nutrition, said that it’s a unique delivery form because, so far there have been no powders and oils combined and put into a softgel.
The ingredient’s marketing focuses on active and performance nutrition, but Barnes said that it can be highly customized depending on customer.
“Customers can choose basically which kind of market they want to go after. We can manufacture a wide range of omega-3 blends,” he said. This means finished product formulators can choose EPA or DHA, derived from marine or plant sources, to be combined with 500 mg of NEM as a foundation.
“I think the combination of the two ingredients is really going to set some people’s eyes wide open in what they can do,” Haynes added.
“Both products have a good reputation and solid background in science, you put them together, you really have something here that approaches all facets of performance, healthy living, and healthy aging.”