Inspiring Nutrition Guide: The functional issue | Issue Two by Food Matters Live

INSPIRING NUTRITION

Just getting going

buzz has been building in the world of nutrition for some time. Alongside that, the post-pandemic movement among consumers to focus on some of the fundamental aspects of their health, and the functional ingredients they can incorporate into their diets to maintain or improve it, or prevent decline, has added to the nutritional momentum going on. New product development is already catering to this rising demand, with the biggest conglomerates joined by a plethora of energetic start-ups bringing all manner of pioneering products to market. Everyday products like orange squash now feature on-pack boasts about boosting immunity, fruit pastilles promise to keep the most skittish person calm, personalised nutrition apps make wide-eyed suggestions

about living longer, while securing subscriptions, and old fashioned sensible advice about balanced diets clashes with tabloid hysteria about ultra-processed foods. Wherever you look nutrition is putting on a show. But even though it’s been busy helping consumers to eat better, live longer and sleep more peacefully, there is an awful lot more to emerge from the world of functional ingredients - and some existing trends look set to get even bigger than they already are. Nutritionists take good health as a starting point and build upon it in exciting and inventive ways that benefit people. That chimes with the prevailing mood among consumers to feel better about themselves in every way. No wonder there is a buzz about it.

by James Halliwell Business editor at Food Matters Live

CONTENTS

DAZED AND CONFUSED

SPORTING COLLAGEN

CARRIE RUXTON ON UPF

FUTURE FUNCTIONALITY

INSPIRING NUTRITION

CURCUMIN POWER

INSPIRING NUTRITION

A new entrant to CBD could wonder how safe they need to play it now the FSA has stepped up its game. Or, to put it another way, how far they can push it?

C OV E R S TO RY

Dazed and Confused by James Halliwell CBD is the hottest functional ingredient in food development. But confusion over the safety and legality of products has seen some pioneering products stripped from high street shelves, albeit temporarily. So what do food developers need to know when it comes to CBD in 2024?

INSPIRING NUTRITION

he FSA had been concerned about the increasing use of CBD in food and drink for some time before its dramatic new guidance around CBD on 12 October. It said 10mg of CBD was their recommended daily amount for consumers to consume in CBD-infused drinks, snacks, gummies, oils and tinctures. But this was a huge plunge from the previous daily amount of 70g. Now it was saying people who reguarly consume more than 10mg of CBD a day risked “adverse impacts on the liver and thyroid”. That could have felt troubling for regular CBD users, but especially for product developers and manufacturers. The new guidance of 10mg represented such a significant reduction on existing recommended levels of CBD that it rendered many CBD products ‘unsafe’ overnight. The immediate fallout from that decision is well documented. Trip, the fastest growing soft drink in the UK, was caught up in the confusion over the 10mg guidance because its elegant cans of CBD fizzy drink contain 15mg. It was delisted by safety-concious Holland & Barrett, although it was restocked equally quickly once clarity around the new guidance was established. But the drama isn’t over. One reason the FSA’s intervention remains significant is because the CBD industry has been experiencing meteoric growth, so this was an unusual example of it taking any kind of hit. The UK CBD market was worth around £300m in 2020, says the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis. That had doubled to £600m by 2022 and it predicts sales of £1bn by 2025. To put that £1bn into context, it’s twice the size of the UK Vitamins and Supplements Market (£520m) according to Mintel. Given CBD products first started to trickle into the UK around 2016, that is rapid growth by any measure. The CMC also expects the number of regular CBD users to

double to six million in the next two years. But for any developer wanting to take advantage of this boom, the new and relatively stringent FSA guidance presents concerns about formulation for reasons of legality and safety. The FSA intervention hasn’t left the category in a state of paralysis by any means. But a new entrant to the CBD category could legitimately wonder how safe they need to play it now the FSA has stepped up its game. Or, to put it another way, how far they can push it? CBD products come from hemp, a variety of cannabis which is high in CBD but low in THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that makes users high. Hemp has been used in the UK for hundreds of years, historically for the production of fibres to make clothing, rope and sails. But in the 20th century it was outpaced by m o d e r n s y n t h e t i c fibres, and the increasingly popularity of illegal THCrich cannabis meant the government clamped down on production. But the last few decades have seen hemp regain popularity for its functionality and versality as a crop, and in 1993 controlled cultivation of hemp with THC content not exceeding 0.2% was allowed. Fast forward 30 years and hemp is used to make CBD products, like gummies, oils, sprays, capsules, vapes, edibles and of course drinks like Trip. CBD flower is being touted as the next big growth CBD sub-category, but drink, oils and gummies are predicted to keep on growing. CBD is a novel food, so anyone wishing to retail a CBD product in the UK has to apply to the FSA for permission in the form of FSA authorisation. The regulator has a public list of CBD products it says are “linked to an application for authorisation going through the novel foods process.” So any new product must submit a range of data to the FSA for review and, hopefully, approval, which takes at least 17 months,

The UK CBD market will have hit sales of £1bn by 2025

Find out more

INSPIRING NUTRITION

Rather like an extremely weak alcoholic drink, CBD products often contain up to 0.2% THC, the ingredient in cannabis that makes users high but is currently taking longer than any stakeholder would like. It’s also expensive. Costs vary. Currently there are 12,115 CBD products on the FSA’s list being reviewed, about five times as many products as you’d find in your local Aldi. The FSA categorises everything on the list as ‘validated’, ‘awaiting evidence’, or ‘removed’. Exactly 5,335 have been validated, 6,317 are awaiting evidence, and 463 (4%) have been marked as ‘removed’. The FSA is keen to stress that ‘validated’ does not mean it has authorised the product for sale, and that there is no guarantee that a validated application will be authorised. Meanwhile the FSA says products marked ‘removed’ should be withdrawn from the market and “could be subject to local enforcement”. A quick google of a few products marked ‘removed’ on the list shows them still available for sale online. For instance, some of the 463 items on the ‘Removed’ list are CBD oils with 10,000mg of CBD in a single 100ml bottle (the highest CBD oils hit 12,000gm). Even consuming a single dose from a CBD oil this strong equates to 33mg of CBD, triple the FSA recommendation. And, however unlikely it is, anyone curious about downing the 100ml bottle would be consuming 1,000 times the FSA’s recommended dosage, all at once. For experienced users, a high dosage of CBD is considered to be around

3-400mg a day (still well over the FSA recommendation). Anyone ingesting these amounts, especially if they were new to CBD, would risk experiencing a range of unpleasant side effects including nausea and diarrhoea. As unpleasant as this all sounds, arguably a bigger fear around CBD is that it opens the door for THC products onto UK high streets, despite the fact that it shouldn’t be a risk. The potency or otherwise of CBD is often debated but one point is clear - THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that makes a user high, is almost entirely absent from CBD. So CBD products are considered legal, whereas cannabis is not. But almost is not entirely. Rather like an extremely weak alcoholic drink, CBD products often contain up to 0.2% THC - but there is no legal limit for THC. It is illegal.

Flower Power

Ultimately there is no law around the level of THC in CBD, not least because the laws around cannabis, hemp, THC, cannabadoils and anything else that falls under the umbrella term ‘cannabis’, all predate the explosion in the spread of CDB products. The cannabis industry has simply evolved faster that the regulatory apparatus erected to control it. Essentially the current laws around cannabis that CBD would naturally fall into aren’t fit for purpose, but only because they were created before CBD was. As an example of the back to front situation, the Misuse of Drugs Acts of 1971, 2001 and 2010 provides for ‘exempt product’ status, which allows for the presence of no more than 1 mg of THC in an individual product if certain conditions are met. CBD does not meet those conditions. But border authorities are still inspecting CBD imports and using these laws to seize them if they do exceed the 1mg limit. If that sounds confused, it’s because it is. Just how confused was put to the test in October, when a UK hemp business imported a shipment of CBD flower from Italy. This particular shipment was stopped because

of its aroma and appearance, but although tests showed the buds and flower contained less than 0.2% THC, it was seized by UK Customs. The owners were arrested and charged with importing cannabis and ended up in court. Why? Because the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 disregards THC content when defining cannabis so treats hemp flower as a drug. And it has a point, cannabis flower with an ultra-low THC content is still cannabis flower with THC in it. However, in what’s been seen as a boost for CBD, the defendants challenged the charges, took it to the court of appeal, and were successful. Under EU law there is no restriction on the movement of hemp with a THC level below 0.2%, and the importation took place before the UK had left the EU - so in effect, no offence had been committed. Not that the EU is a soft touch. In October it recalled a CBD oil containing “unsafe levels” of THC. It wouldn’t say how high they were, but says there is “no safe level for THC in food”. WLawyers say that although the outcome of the case does make for a strong argument, it in no way legalises the trade of low-THC hemp in the UK. Even though low-THC hemp is exactly where CBD oil comes from. One thing is for sure, new and robust legislation will likely be on the way. In October the government released a series of conclusions following research into the CBD scene. It concluded that CBD products were unlikely to be used for illicit purposes, that it would be useful to set an upper legal limit for THC in CBD, that it wanted to do more research into whether heated vapes could boost the THC level in CBD, and that it was unimpressed with the current testing methods for “controlled phytocannabinoids” which it said are “not sufficiently robust.” In other words, CBD is stuck on an amber light. Where NPD is concerned the category is exciting, innovative and lucrative. There is huge headroom for growth in every direction. But in regulatory terms, for the next few years at least, developers need to know that it is swift and changeable.

INSPIRING NUTRITION

OPINION

Is ‘ultraprocessed’ just another way to make us feel ultraguilty about our food? by Carrie Ruxton

ne of the more controversial debates in recent weeks has been over ultraprocessed foods, aka UPFs, but will the media attention lead to more anxiety and guilt over what we eat?

INSPIRING NUTRITION

umans love to put things into categories, especially foods. Treats versus staples, traffic lights, HFSS, plant versus animal food, low fat or low carb, the whole point is to signal the healthiest type of diet for us or the planet. While these methods of categorisation differ, the results are similar – sugars, saturated fats, salt and calories typically come out as ‘bad’, while fibre, protein, fruits and vegetables come out as ‘good’. In that way, we guide people towards diets that minimise the macronutrients that get a bad name for their links with chronic disease and maximise the healthy nutrients and bioactive compounds. But labelling foods on the basis of processing seems to require a completely d if fe r e n t m i n d s e t from regular nutrition science. The NOVA classification makes assumptions about the healthiness of foods based on whether they are minimally or lightly processed (viewed as ‘good’) or ultra-processed (UPF; viewed as ‘bad’). There are four categories, but these can be tricky to use in practice. A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that even food experts can’t agree which foods belong in the NOVA categories and some foods can even fit into more than one. According to NOVA food lists available, firmly in the ‘good’ camp are home-baked or artisan breads yet all the loaves available to buy in the supermarket are UPF. Similarly, plain yoghurts are ‘good’ but add any flavour – even from fruit puree – and it becomes UPF. Cereal bars? UPF. Only home-baked treats are ‘good’ regardless of whether they contain more sugar or fat than commercial options. Even the highest fibre, lowest sugar breakfast cereal is still UPF – they can’t win. Interestingly, all baby formula milk is UPF, adding yet another layer of guilt to working mothers.

Now, I can see the point of encouraging home cooking and baking although not everyone has the time or skills. Likewise, a lot of foods in the UPF category, such as confectionary, sugar-sweetened beverages and salty snacks are not recommended as part of a healthy diet. However, certain types of industrial processing – such as adding fibre, nutrient fortification, creating plant-based products or gluten-free options – have the potential to benefit the health of consumers and contribute to sustainability. This limitation of the NOVA classification is summed up by the BNF, which notes: “The UPF NOVA 4 definition also includes foods and drinks needed for medical or nutritional purposes .. for which there is often no accessible or convenient alternative”. As a recent letter to the British Journal of Nutrition challenging N OVA , s c i e n t i s t s from the University of Toronto observed that: “soy burgers are not Twinkies” – an obvious statement until you realise that both would be placed the UPF category. There are no derogations for being nutritious, low in sugar, high in fibre or low in saturated fat, despite dietary guidelines telling us to eat this kind of diet. It’s almost as if the rigidity of NOVA runs counterintuitive to the nutrient-led evidence normally used to develop public health messages. I predict the media’s recent love affair with UPF, egged on by certain food campaigners with their eye on returning the public to post-war food production, will only lead to mass anxiety and guilt. Having just caught on to sugar reduction, after being told in the 1980s that low fat was the goal, busy consumers now need to consider UPF and plant-based before loading up their shopping trolleys. Would we be surprised if they switch off from the ever-increasing criteria for the perfect diet and simply grab another Twinkie?

I predict the media’s love affair with UPF, egged on by certain food campaigners, will lead to mass anxiety and guilt

INSPIRING NUTRITION

Inspiring the future of nutrition

e rounded up some of the most interesting quotes from the recent Inspiring Nutrition event held in London on 14-15 November.

There are barely any products, services or applications catering to menopausal needs, this is a massive untapped market. Alex Ruani, The Health Sciences Academy Keynote Speaker

Q U OT E S

We are covered in bacteria. We are as microbial as we are human, if aliens were to come down from space they would look at us like a hybrid species. You’ve got 100 trillion bacteria, viruses and yeast that live in your gut. Emily Leeming, Kings College Panel: Staying ahead of the cutting-edge gut microbome market

INSPIRING NUTRITION

We need to think holistically and systemically when it comes to sustainable nutrition, there is a huge amount to think about, so much of it is interlinked, which makes it fascinating but complicated. Fay Cooke, Yeo Valley Panel: Addressing the complexities of sustainable nutrition

Q U OT E S

We should keep food first. It’s important not to forget things like omega3, B12, iron, some of the polyphenols that are easy to get from food. Miriam Ferrer, Cambridge Nutraceuticals Panel: Mindful Bites: The science of using nutrition to support mood and brain health

The small number of studies available suggest nutrigenetics is not currently superior to more general top-level personalised advice. Mariette Abrahams, CEO & Founder Qina Panel: Cracking the code: What to expect from personalised nutrition

Agriculture should be considered the UK’s primary health service. Lee Holdstock, Soil Association, quoting Lady Balfour, who founded the Soil Association in 1946 Panel: Addressing the complexities of sustainable nutrition

At the moment, personalised nutrition advice is inaccessible to a lot of people. Stacey Lockyer, Senior Nutrition Scientist Panel: Cracking the code: What to expect from personalised nutrition

You have to be careful as a brand when it comes to claims. Consumers want transparency, they want to know why you have added nutrients or fortified a product and how that aligns with their health and nutrition goals. Claire Hughes, Sainsbury’s Panel: Inspiring ingredients for longevity and healthy life

INSPIRING NUTRITION

Why C3 Reduct is a powerful blend of the old and the new In partnership with Sabinsa

f you want an example of how ancient medical wisdom manifests itself in 2023, you find it in C3 Reduct®. It’s a ground breaker in the world of functional ingredients, having achieved a significant regulatory milestone by gaining approval as a novel food from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Regulated under Regulation 2015/2283, this approval marks C3 Reduct® as a safe and compliant product that meets the most stringent safety standards. Numerous studies have proved its safety and efficacy, reinforcing it as a trusted dietary supplement and one developers can use with confidence. Not only that, but C3 Reduct® is also the first curcumin metabolite product to receive EFSA novel food approval, and Sabinsa is also the first to deliver curcumin as a metabolite. The belief that curcumin has significant health benefits dates 5,000 years back to Ayurveda, an ancient medicinal practice. Its holistic approach to well-being chimes with our modern wellness-focused society. It used a vast array of functional ingredients chosen for their specific therapeutic properties, and curcumin, a natural compound found in turmeric, was one of the most significant. C3 Reduct® is derived from the Curcumin C3 Complex by a technique that Sabinsa has successfully employed. It is well known fact that the benefits of Curcuminoids are attributed to the active reductive metabolites, which are tetrahydrocurcuminoids. These reductive metabolites are the first metabolites formed by cells after curcuminoids uptake. C3 Reduct® is one step

ahead and bypasses the step of conversion of curcuminoids in the cells and provides directly active metabolites of curcuminoids to our body. These colourless or white tetrahydrocurcuminoids offer enhanced bioavailability and stability. The final C3 Reduct® product contains a minimum of 95% THCs, which makes C3 Reduct® a potent and efficient functional ingredient. It has no equivalent on the market, there is no match for it. It requires no bioavailability enhancers or additives. And the body assimilates it with relative ease through the gastrointestinal tract. This ensures high bioavailability and allows the body to efficiently absorb the active metabolites. And unlike traditional curcumin, which requires conversion in the body, C3 Reduct® delivers its benefits directly, eliminating the need for high doses or additional ingredients. Studies have shown the effectiveness of C3 Reduct® in supporting organs such as the liver, lungs, brain, kidneys, and gut. For instance, it plays a crucial role in mitigating lung fibrosis, a significant concern in the postpandemic era. In the realm of brain health, it exhibits anti-amyloid activity, promising protection against neurodegeneration. And although liver diseases are on the rise globally, scientific studies have shown that C3 Reduct® effectively reduces inflammation and oxidative stress in the liver. It also regulates cholesterol synthesis, as well as conditions like inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer. Diabetes, a growing global concern, also finds a formidable opponent in C3 Reduct®, which helps manage healthy sugar levels, reduces

S U S TA I N A B L E C A R E E R S

blood glucose levels, and protects against complications. The market oppor tunities for this innovative product are also extremely promising, tapping into healthy ageing, brain health, joint health, particularly in conditions like osteoarthritis and immune support. Its colourless and flavourless nature also means it’s good for other growing markets, like sports nutrition products. The breadth of the application is matched only by the projections. According to Allied Market Research, sports nutrition, which was valued at $34.8bn in 2020, could almost double to $67.9bn by 2030. C3 Reduct® has demonstrated significant functionality in maintaining in the body by activating AMP activated cyclic kinase (AMPK) 250 times than curcuminoids. AMPK is central regulator of energy homeostasis because it balances nutrient supply with energy demand and stipulated ATP production under energy depleted conditions. C3 Reduct® qualifies as an excellent natural energy booster for sports athletes. Furthermore, sports and physical exercise can lead to inflammation in the body, but C3 Reduct® can help relieve muscle and joint inflammation. And, crucially for today’s developers and consumers, Sabinsa says C3 Reduct® is sustainable, as evidenced by a farming model that covers over 20,000 acres in India where turmeric farmers are seen as partners. It says the number of farmers joining the network increases every year. Farmers are assured mutually agreed prices and are trained in the Good Agricultural Practices and Good Field Collection Practices developed by the World Health Organisation. C3 Reduct® is testament to the enduring relevance of ancient wisdom and natural treatments in the modern world. It’s a functional, potent and approved ingredient, that blends ancient wisdom with our modern understanding of the microbiome, making C3 Reduct® a standout player in the world of functional ingredients.

P O D C A S T EP I S O D E

Is collagen the elixir behind athletic endurance? In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, made in partnership with Gelita, we take a closer look at collagen, an ingredient that is making waves in the world of sports nutrition. Although most of us will be familiar with its potential benefits to skin health, its allure extends far beyond aesthetics, especially for athletes. From its role in enhancing muscle recovery and growth, to its impact on bolstering joint health, collagen is emerging as a gamechanger for sports performance both on and off the field. And with athletes constantly pushing their bodies to the limit, collagen could provide the extra endurance needed in striving for that personal best. But what does the science say?

D o c o l l a g e n s u p p l e m e n t s h a ve the potential to revolutionise athletic performance as is claimed? And how can it be used to optimise training and endurance? Our guest on the podcast is Andrea Löw, a historian based in Munich and a passionate runner. She started running 20 years ago, when she was 30 years old, when a doctor told her that she may face a hip operation. Another doctor advised her to start running instead. She started running 6k and 10k distances in 2006, did her first half marathon that year, and her first marathon in 2008. She has since run several ultra-races, covering distances of 220k, 250k and 520k. She never did have that hip operation.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

INSPIRING NUTRITION

THE FUTURE OF FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS

The future of functional ingredients

ix things you need to know about what’s coming up in the world of functional ingredients - and what’s going to keep getting even bigger?

Drinks

It’s the method of delivery that makes it a future favourite. Even more so than gummies, what could be easier to consume than a drink, especially a bottle of water? As a conduit for functional ingredients, water ticks the required boxes for taste - what could be less offensive or more familiar - as well as practicality (a drink serves as a way to quench thirst alongside anything else that might be added) and also because water already offers health benefits because it keeps consumers hydrated. And of course, it’s the easiest thing in the world to turn water into flavoured water. It’s why steady growth is predicted for bottled functional waters in 2024 and long beyond.

THE FUTURE OF FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS

Gummies

Gummies, which resemble chewy sweets like fruit pastilles, have experienced dizzying growth over the last few years, with the market now exceeding $3bn and annual global growth hitting 23%. The appeal lies in the childlike innocence of the method of delivering the functional ingredient in question, the appealing juxtaposition is especially apparent when that ingredient is CBD. Combining a sweet treat with a functional ingredient in an enjoyable and discreet way is key to the appeal of the gummies business, which shows no sign of slowing, although like the rest of the UK CBD business, regulatory constraints are hovering.

Gut health

When it comes to future of NPD, gut health is everywhere, but it’s only just getting started. Pre, pro and postbiotics do two fantastically functional things for both consumers and manufacturers - namely they offer health benefits to the consumer, like helping to regulate metabolism, reduce inflammation, boost immunity, as well as helping to improve the composition of the gut microbiome. That’s great for any manufacturer, but with the added bonus that they also improve shelf life. And they can also boost flavour and texture, improving mouthfeel, and can act as natural sweeteners, which naturally appeals to developers in 2024.

INSPIRING NUTRITION

Funghi

Like gut health, mushrooms are sprouting up everywhere in the world of functional ingredients. Various estimates suggest there are more than five million species of funghi in the world, there are probably more. Revered by medicine men since ancient times, the recent explosion in plant-based NPD has given mushrooms yet another wind of popularity. Known to benefit the health of people and the natural world, mushrooms grow anywhere and everywhere, but new tech is transforming them into novel foods, with tech-magnified potency taking them to a new level of functional power.

Bugs

Touted as the next big thing for years, Europe is yet to fully succumb to the charms of eating insects, although two billion people around the world eat them reguarly. Three are authorised as novel foods in the EU - Tenebrio molitor larva (yellow mealworm), Locusta migratoria (migratory locust) and Acheta domesticus (house cricket). But 2024 could be the year of the bug thanks to the efforts of UK farmers like Monkfield and processors like Yum Bug, which are taking the unusual protein source beyond powder and shaping it into strips, mince and chunks. With a pinkish appearance, and what’s described as a gamey, oniony flavour, there is an inevitability about insects entering the mainstream, although market share will likely be insect-sized for a while to come.

Algae

Marine ingredients will play a big role in food development in years to come, and the work going on with algae makes it highly likely to feature heavily. Algae have been consumed for hundreds of years but experimentation and new technology have made them increasingly useful for the world of food and drink. The European Commission has launched an initiative aimed at utilising it comprehensively and scaling it up rapidly. It says algae “represent a largely untapped resource that can be used – with a limited carbon and environmental footprint – to produce food, feed, pharmaceuticals, bioplastics, fertilisers and biofuels.”

INSPIRING NUTRITION

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2024 View Findour out Events more

DUBLIN TASTES OF BETTER 5-6 November

MANCHESTER TASTES OF BETTER 22 May | 19 November

LONDON SUSTAINABLE FOOD FORUM 20-24 September

ASCOT TASTES OF BETTER/ SUSTAINABLE SOURCING 16-17 April | 8-9 October

NAVIGATING EU DEFORESTATION REGULATION 15 April | 7 Oct

INSPIRING NUTRITION

Managing director Briony Mansell-Lewis briony.mansell-lewis@foodmatterslive.com Commercial enquiries Caroline Roberts caroline.roberts@foodmatterslive.com Events enquiries Lydia Stilwell lydia.stilwell@foodmatterslive.com Editor James Halliwell james.halliwell@foodmatterslive.com Designer/Illustrator Rebecca Corcoran rebecca.corcoran@foodmatterslive.com