This week’s big news across the global nutrition and supplements industries includes the sale of BASF’s health ingredients business, new research showing the benefits of probiotics for sleep in elite athletes and Zooca eyeing opportunities in China.
Italy/ USA: Probiotics may boost sleep and recovery for elite athletes and general population
A multi-strain probiotic consortium may improve sleep quality and exercise recovery for elite Italian soccer players, with similar results observed in a cohort of people in the general U.S. population, says a new study conducted by scientists from Palermo Football Club and FitBiomics.
Results of an open-label study in 257 people in the general population revealed that 94% of the participants reported notable health improvements after two weeks of supplementation with the commercial Nella product, particularly in sleep quality, energy and post-exercise recovery.
These results were then validated in a placebo-controlled longitudinal study with elite Italian soccer players from a professional Serie B team. Data indicated that a combination of three athlete-derived probiotic strains, Lactiplantibacillus platarum FB00015, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus FB00047 and Lactobacillus acidophilus FB00012 was associated with significant improvements in self-reported sleep quality, energy levels and bowel movements.
Read the full story HERE.
Europe: Louis Dreyfus Company to acquire BASF’s health ingredients business
BASF announced it is selling its Food and Health Performance Ingredients business to Louis Dreyfus Company, including a production site and state-of-the-art R&D center in Germany.
The deal, which was announced on Dec. 23, 2024, includes a health ingredients portfolio that offers plant sterols esters, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega-3 oils for human nutrition, as well as food performance ingredients such as aeration and whipping agents, food emulsifiers and fat powder grades.
“This agreement is an opportunity to accelerate LDC’s participation in the rapidly growing plant-based ingredients market,” said Michael Gelchie, CEO of Louis Dreyfus Company.
“We are excited about the prospect of this transaction, as LDC’s first investment in dedicated facilities to produce food and health performance ingredients at scale.”
Read the full story HERE.
China: Zooca has big plans in Asia for tiny zooplankton species
Norway’s Zooca says that Calanus finmarchicus, a tiny zooplankton, could meet cardiovascular and healthy aging needs in China.
“It’s a unique three-in-one combination of fatty acids, fatty alcohols and high levels of naturally occurring astaxanthin,” explained Zooca’s chief sales officer Ole Sakkestad. “The oil contains about 40 different fatty acids, including omega-3s, which makes up about a quarter of the oil composition.
“The rest is made up of other fatty acids like omega-7 and omega-11. Calanus finmarchicus is also the only marine resource known to contain the fatty alcohol policosanol.”
The benefits of Calanus oil align with trending concerns in China, according to a recent report by NutraIngredients-Asia. These include healthy and anti-aging, as well as the three hypers associated with cardiovascular health—hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and hyperglycaemia.
Zooca has devised a dual B2B and B2C strategy to enter the Chinese market.
Read the full story HERE.
