Called "Holiday Skin Protection", the formulation is comprised of Betatene carotenoids, Xangold lutein esters and Covitol natural-source vitamin E. With summer in mind, Cognis will officially launch the concept at the Vitafoods International trade show in Geneva in May and said it would be targeting six sub-niches within the skin health area:
- Stress reduction
- Daily skin protection
- Sensitive skin
- Anti-cellulite
- Anti-aging
- Sun protection
Cognis Nutrition and Health communications manager Viola Stahl told NutraIngredients.com that "Holiday Skin Protection" offered a clinically-backed alternative for beverage makers interested in bringing "beauty-from-the-inside" products to market. Delivering skin protection "We have been busy working at new ways of delivering skin protection solutions and offering this to our business partners and we felt this was the right time for a suite like this," Stahl said. "We are targeting dairy drinks and yoghurts to begin with but other foods and beverages are possible as well as dietary supplements." She said while no new ingredients were being offered, Cognis had spent a lot of time and money on R&D to ensure the ingredient mix was right in terms of taste and texture as well as appropriate skin care marketing. Products were not intended to be used as substitutes for topical skin protection treatments, but rather as an adjunct, Cognis said. The formulation is to be offered in dairy beverage samples at Vitafoods and Cognis will back it with full turnkey support including regulatory expertise, applications and formulation services as well as R&D. "At Vitafoods we will have the product in sample form and potential clients can get a feel for the taste, mouthfeel," Stahl said, adding, "We have not decided about a water-soluble version as yet. We are still testing on that." Cosmeceutical awareness Cognis is ramping up its presence in cosmeceuticals at a time of rapid expansion for the beauty foods and supplements sector. A recent Datamonitor report predicted the European cosmeceuticals market to grow to $4.4bn (€3.4bn) in 2009, a growth rate of five per cent. This includes all cosmetic products containing at least one bio-active ingredient for the skin. "Increased awareness of the link between what we eat, our health, and our physical appearance has made consumers more open to the idea of beauty foods and supplements," said Albert Strube, Cognis director global growth product lines. "We have chosen to present a product opportunity for the dynamic dairy products sector with our drink, but these concepts can be applied to other foods and beverages and, of course, to food supplements," he added. "Holiday Skin Protection" is part of Cognis's Newtrition range which it says helps "customers identify market opportunities, select the most suitable health ingredients and successfully position their products."