EU go-ahead for lycopene use in foods
European Commission approval for the use of several lycopene forms in foods looks set to significantly expand the market for the tomato-based antioxidant now that it is no longer restricted to food supplement applications.
Offerings from Vitatene, BASF, DSM and Lycored have all won Novel Foods approval, making the market ripe for growth, according to Israeli-based Lycored.
“This is important news for the food and beverage industries where fortifying foods with ingredients offering added health benefits is a key to higher profits, says Udi Alroy, vice president of global marketing and sales at LycoRed, which manufactures a natural form of lycopene under the brand name Lyc-O-Mato.“Thanks to this new approval, Lyc-O-Mato has created a new natural lycopene category for food applications in Europe.
The approval is specific to the natural and synthetic lycopene versions from the four companies.
As an antioxidant, lycopene has been shown to have heart, blood pressure, prostate, osteoporosis, skin and other benefits in both natural and synthetic form, and has been commonly used in food supplements and cosmeceutical applications.
