NIU’s Global Round-up: Blackmores’ new CEO, Akkermansia’s metabolic potential, and more

Australia​

Blackmores unveils new CEO​

Alastair Symington, a top executive from beauty and cosmetics brand Coty, has been announced as the new CEO and MD of Blackmores, Australia’s leading dietary supplements brand.

Symington, the SVP of consumer beauty at Coty, previously worked for companies such as Nestle, Gillette, and P&G, will take over from interim CEO and executive director Marcus Blackmores on October 1.

Symington will become Blackmores’ third CEO in less than three years, following Richard Henfrey (who resigned unexpectedly about 1.5 years into the role in February this year), and Christine Holgate, who left in September 2017 to lead Australia Post.

For more on this from NutraIngredients-Asia, please click HERE​​.

Europe​

Akkermansia​​ supplements to tackle metabolic-related disorders?​

Belgian scientists reported that supplementation with Akkermansia muciniphila​ may improve insulin sensitivity and cholesterol levels.

The study, published in Nature Medicine​, also found that Akkermansia may reduce marker levels for liver dysfunction and inflammation in humans.

Further findings reveal the overall gut microbiome structure is unaffected, and provides a “promising start for the supplementation with A. muciniphila in overweight or obese insulin-resistant individuals”​, wrote the authors, led by Clara Depommier and Amandine Everard, from the Université catholique de Louvain.

A. muciniphila​ has attracted growing interest for its health-promoting effects. In rodents, treatment with A. muciniphila​ reduces obesity and related disorders, such as glucose intolerance, insulin resistance and gut permeability.

For more on this study and for reaction to its findings, please click HERE​​.

LATAM​

Nestlé files patent on high-protein blend to tackle muscle wastage​

According to a new patent filing from Nestlé, a high-protein composition may induce autophagy in the muscle. The formulation could be given to critically ill patients, the aging and elderly or those with genetic diseases, said the company.

Nestlé said the blend contained high levels of protein – at least 25% of total energy or more than 6g per 100kcal – from a range of sources, including milk, whey, caseinate, pea and soy. The composition, it said, could be used to induce autophagy in skeletal muscle when used in an effective amount.

Considering the elderly, the company said age-related loss of muscle mass and function – considered sarcopenia when it impacted life quality – was inevitable in all individuals. Many also suffered with frailty – a function decline associated with low muscle strength and functionality, but not muscle mass.

Nestlé said its high-protein formulation could be used in both instances to “concomitantly promote protein synthesis and removal of damaged cellular materials” ​or “induce autophagy” ​- an action supported in findings from a mouse, zebrafish and western blot study.

An “additional advantage”​ of the composition, it said, was it could also be used to “protect a patient suffering from a genetic disease”,​ including muscular dystrophies such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, mitochondrial myopathies or Pompe disease.

For more on this, please read the original article at NutraIngredients-LATAM​​.