For Release: IMMEDIATE
Contact:
Courtney Jacobs
801-538-0777
BI Nutraceuticals Creates GRAS Reference Database for Its Extensive Catalogue of Botanical Ingredients
LONG BEACH, CA, October 14, 2008—BI Nutraceuticals announced today it has developed a comprehensive database of its ingredient offerings that have Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) certification, meaning they have been approved for use in food and beverage applications. After an extensive review of its catalogue of 470 botanical offerings to determine current U.S. and Canadian regulatory status for food and beverage use, BI found that 298 of its ingredients have been deemed GRAS by the FDA or FEMA, the Flavors and Extracts Manufacturers Association. This GRAS ingredient database is available to all of BI’s food and beverage customers.
"This database allows BI to provide accurate regulatory guidance to our customer base surrounding the use of our botanical powders and extracts in functional food and beverage applications," stated Walter Postelwait, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, BI Nutraceuticals. "We plan to continually update and refine this database to ensure its accuracy and are now able to provide critical regulatory information in addition to lending our expertise in product formulation."
There are three types of GRAS designation: FDA, FEMA and self-affirmed. All require an extensive safety and toxicology examination of the ingredient and review of its historical use. BI’s nearly 300 GRAS botanical ingredients are safe for use in a vast range of foods and beverages including non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, frozen dairy, milk products, snack foods, imitation dairy products, chewing gum, instant tea and coffee and soups.
About BI Nutraceuticals
BI Nutraceuticals is a global full-service supplier of dietary
supplement and functional food and beverage ingredients including
whole herb powders and teas, standardized and drug ratio extracts,
custom blends, vitamins, minerals, drum to hopper custom blends,
granular ingredients and other specialty processes including time
released and encapsulated ingredients. Since 2002, BI has been an
innovator in steam sterilization and the company’s Protexx
HP process is currently the industry’s only species-specific,
organic sterilization method. All BI ingredients undergo stringent
quality analysis that includes heavy metal, pesticide and irradiation
testing. All herbal powder ingredients are also tested under the
company’s Identilok® species identification process. The
company has also developed a proprietary process, UltraHD®, which
creates high-density herbal powders allowing for superior flow and
less dusting during the manufacturing process. For more information,
visit
www.binutraceuticals.com.
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