DSM Food Specialties: Offering The Best Of What Nature Has To Offer
DSM Food Specialties, Delft, The Netherlands, is one of the business groups operating under the umbrella of DSM, which was founded almost a century ago. As a multinational company with several business groups in addition to Food Specialties, DSM employs more than 22,000 people worldwide. Total sales in 2000 amounted to EUR 8.09 billion, of which the food ingredient activities accounted for EUR 760 million. DSM Food Specialties’ areas of involvement include dairy, savory, beverages, animal feed, meat and nutrition. DSM also works with the infant, sports, special and health industries. DSM’s mission is to bring its customers innovative, high-quality ingredients based on a variety of microorganisms and proprietary fermentation and enzymatic processes. Today the Food Specialties Business Unit Nutritional Ingredients is busy launching new products in the beta-carotene arena as well as creating more awareness on all levels for PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) in infant nutrition. “We supply beta-carotene in a number of formulations according to the specific applications and needs of our customers,” said Freek Crum, marketing and sales manager, Nutritional Ingredients.
In relation to polyunsaturated fatty acids, DSM has been working to build consumer awareness through its campaign for arachadonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). AA is an area that the company has been involved in for over five years according to Dr. Johan Kamphuis, managing director, Business Unit Nutritional Ingredients. “It is instrumental to create awareness to healthcare professionals including doctors and dietitians and then to the consumer about the need for taking AA and DHA.” On the healthcare professional level the company has held seminars in the U.K. and Holland in which a panel of experts has offered unbiased opinions of products containing AA and DHA to consumers. In addition, the company has worked to build awareness through its website, www.infantvision.com, which is designed for consumers and professionals alike. The website provides a searchable database that disseminates information on AA and DHA for infant nutrition. To create traffic to the site the company is in the process of creating a consumer-oriented site, which consists of a variety of games and music as well as other fun interactive options in which users can participate. All of this, according to Dr. Kamphuis, is designed to create awareness for AA and DHA in a way that is fun and educational at the same time.
From a regulatory standpoint, Dr. Kamphuis said, the EU has made great strides in endorsing the incorporation of AA and DHA as necessary ingredients in term infant nutrition products. Both AA and DHA have been used since 1995 in infant formula in the U.K. and The Netherlands. Before introduction the product underwent thorough safety assessments in both countries. Under EU legislation any product that has received clearance for marketing in one member state may legally be permitted in all other member states.
On the new product front the company has launched a cold water soluble (CWS) version of its CaroCare® beta-carotene. This version is designed for easy dispersion in aqueous systems and brings improved stability against oxidation and excellent pH, heat and UV resistance. CaroCare® CWS beta-carotene is dispersible in cold water and soluble in warm water, which makes it easy to incorporate into existing formulations without the need for new processes or equipment. Additionally, CaroCare® CWS yields repeatable color shades varying from yellow to orange depending on the dose used.
On the mergers and acquisition front there has been a lot of activity for the company and more is anticipated, according to Dr. Kamphuis. “Recently DSM announced its withdrawal from petrochemicals via a partnership with a third party. DSM will entirely focus on building and securing global leadership positions in high, added-value life science products and performance materials. In this scenario Nutritional Ingredients are a very attractive business segment with high growth potential. Three years ago DSM acquired Gist-Brocades, who, at the time, was looking for a partner to speed up its own growth,” he explained. “We already had a longstanding relationship with Gist-Brocades and we were involved in a lot of projects together. The acquisition brought DSM new capabilities in the field of fermentation and enzyme technology.” Coming off its most recent acquisition of Catalytica, a manufacturer of active ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry, last year and being involved in so many mergers and acquisitions to come, Dr. Kamphuis was confident of DSM’s future. “Most mergers and acquisitions fail but all of ours have been successful,” he said. —R.M.
DSM Food Specialties
Nutritional Ingredients
P.O. Box 1
2600 MA
Delft, The Netherlands
Telephone: 31-15-2794136
Fax: 31-15-2793480
E-mail: info.nutritional-ingredients@dsm.com
Website: www.dsm-foodspecialties.com, www.infantvision.com
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