Cargill Receives US-GRAS Acceptance for Leci-PS

The Food and Drug Administration has announced that Leci-PS is GRAS as an ingredient for food applications including yogurt, milk (powdered and ready to drink), cereal bars, breakfast cereals, beverages (powdered) and chewing gum.

18/10/06 Cargill’s memory enhancing supplement, Leci-PS 90 PN, has received official GRAS acceptance from the US Food and Drug Administration.

International research has concluded that impaired memory is a condition that affects more than 200 million people in Europe alone. Cargill’s Leci-PS is a soy-derived phospholipid that may help to reverse normal age-related memory, to reduce the negative effects of mental stress in young healthy individuals and eventually to even benefit a person’s mood. New research has also suggested Leci-PS may help children to cope with attention deficit/hyperactivity syndrome (ADS, ADHD).

While the GRAS determination for Leci-PS applies only to its use in the United States, it is an important milestone for Cargill and a key prerequisite for manufacturers seeking to develop safe, convenient and well tasting food designed for the needs of consumers interested in adding health promoting food to their daily diet.

The Food and Drug Administration has announced that Leci-PS is GRAS as an ingredient for food applications including yogurt, milk (powdered and ready to drink), cereal bars, breakfast cereals, beverages (powdered) and chewing gum.

“Establishing GRAS status removes the biggest regulatory hurdle for fortifying foods with this remarkable ingredient”, comments Dr Dirk Cremer, Regulatory & Scientific Affairs Manager, Cargill.

Leci-PS contains 90% phosphatidylserine (PS) and is the highest concentration PS available on the market. PS is a negatively charged membrane constituent, present in all biological membranes of animals, higher plants and micro organisms. It has unique properties within the body, especially within the brain, where it ensures proper functioning of every nerve cell. Leci-PS is produced in Europe under observation of pharma GMP and application of HACCP principles.

Dr Karl-Heinz Zirzow, Business Director, Bioactive Ingredients, Cargill Texturizing Solutions, comments: “The food industry and consumers will highly welcome the FDA approval of Leci-PS. I am confident that with Cargill’s knowledge of how to apply food technology in a large variety of food categories we will open the door to exciting developments in the food arena.”