Setback for Cargill's glucosamine novel food bid

A decision on whether to allow Cargill's Regenasure vegetarian glucosamine hydrochloride (HCl) as a novel food ingredient has been delayed because of a lack of information on whether it would affect people with diabetes.

Cargill applied to the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) last August for permission to market Regenasure as an ingredient for beverage products aimed at the joint health market.

The FSA had previously ruled in 2004 that Cargill's glucosamine HCl, derived from A. niger, was substantially equivalent to the shellfish derived glucosamine, but now the firm is seeking novel food permission to use the ingredient in a range of products, mainly beverages and fermented milk-based products, at levels that would provide 750mg per daily serving.

In the firm's application, Cargill said that A. niger has a history of safe use generally in food production since the 1920s. The strain used to produce the Novel Ingredient (NI) has been used in the US and other countries for citric acid production since 1993. The company also said no glucosamine of any source is presently used in beverages marketed in Europe.

In the FSA's draft opinion, which is now up for consultation, experts from the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) looked at the various strict requirements to grant Novel Ingredient (NI) permission.

The committee report took into account a series of human studies, including the effect of glucosamine on glucose metabolism and studies on high intake levels.

However, the committee found there have not been enough data to date to determine whether long-term glucosamine intake has a detrimental effect in people with severe diabetes.

The report also raised concern that the target population for products containing glucosamine would include middle-aged or elderly people, including a significant proportion of diabetics, or those whose condition has not been diagnosed.

Glucosamine Spoof

Glucosamine Trials Show Little Benefit Against Arthritis

Although millions of arthritis sufferers buy glucosamine supplements to ease their joint pain, there's still no convincing proof the product works, according to a major new analysis.
In fact, the results of 15 trials of over-the-counter glucosamine vary so widely that industry bias may be a factor influencing the more positive outcomes, concludes a team writing in the July issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

"There's a big difference between trials, much more than you would expect by chance," explained lead investigator Dr. Steven Vlad, a fellow in rheumatology at Boston University Medical Center.

But an editorialist in the journal refutes those claims.Dr. Jean-Yves Reginster, of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Public Health Aspects of Rheumatic Disease, in Liege, Belgium, counters that industry trials are typically more stringent than independent academic research. He also believes that Vlad's group included trials in their analysis that were very unalike in terms of timeframes and methodology, confusing the results.