Danish firm Fluxome is already supplying the ingredient to supplement makers and one beverage company. It plans to move the bulk of its production from the US to the EU this autumn as demand grows in Europe.
Fluxome and Fertin’s chewing gum development project in the EU comes as US firm Cheiron Holdings recently launched a mint chewing gum called Heart Strong Gum containing the active ingredient.
Development available to the industry
Resveratrol has GRAS (generally recognised as safe) status in the US, and the equivalent status in Taiwan. It has novel foods approval in the EU as a supplement, but not for use in food products.
However, confectioners are still able to sell resveratrol chewing gum in Europe, provided they comply with regulations to market the product as having functional or fortified properties.
The company has indicated that it is working on approval in other regions.
Fluxome plans to make the gum concept with Fertin available to be purchased by manufacturers in Europe once it is developed.
Angela Tsetsis, CEO of the firm, said that the most obvious parties interested in producing a resveratrol gum in the EU would initially be specialised manufacturers, but she hoped that the gums fortified with the ingredient would have wider distribution in the long-term from one of the bigger players in the sector.
Fluxome said that it’s resveratrol is a natural and sustainable ingredient that has no impact on flavour, taste or appearance when added to chewing gum formulations.
Currently, there is limited competition in Europe from resveratrol ingredeint suppliers, she said.
Although DSM is known to manufacture its own resveratrol variety called resVida.
Heart Strong Gum
In the last few months, US firm Cheiron Holdings has developed Heart Strong Gum containing Fluxome’s resveratrol.
Cherion’s offering contains 40mg of >98% purity resveratrol, which it says is the equivalent amount to 40 glasses of red wine. The product uses a xylitol gum base and is only available for sale online, retaling at $53.99 for one carton containing 120 pieces.
Fertin
Fluxome previously developed a gum prototype in the EU with Gumlink, another Danish company which was later acquired by Fertin Pharma. The first concept was presented at First International conference of Resveratrol in Demark in 2010.
Fertin develops and manufactures medical chewing gums using its Medichew technology, but it does not make finished products. The patented technology produces medical gum tablets with two layers - one layer as a chewable or fast dissolving tablet and the other as a gum tablet.
Resveratrol is a component of red wine that has been linked to health benefits, such as reduced cancer risk, cardiovascular benefits, protection against Alzheimer’s and energy enhancement.
