Heart health ingredient Fruitflow makes US beverage debut

10-Oct-2012 - Last updated on 12-Oct-2012 at 12:15 GMT

Related tags High-fructose corn syrup Blood

Langer Juice Company has launched the first beverage onto the US market to contain tomato-derived cardiovascular health ingredient Fruitflow.

Langer’s Tomato Juice Plus and L&A Tomato Juice are made of 100% pure tomato juice and do not contain added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sweeteners or preservatives.

The juices are now on sale via Southern California grocery retailer Gelson’s, and Royal DSM (which licenses the Fruitflow brand from developer Provexis) said it expected a nationwide launch in 2013.

‘Spiky’ platelets smoothed

Debuting at Health Ingredients Europe 2010 in Madrid, Fruitflow made waves as the first food ingredient to win an Article 13.5 health claim from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

This states that Fruitflow “helps maintain normal platelet aggregation, which contributes to healthy blood flow” at an agreed optimum dose of 3g.

Eight clinical trials support claims that Fruitflow works to support blood flow by keeping blood platelets in a smooth form, since ‘sticky’ or ‘spiky’ platelets can lead to aggregation, Royal DSM said.

The company added that the smoothing effect took place within 1.5 hours when Fruitflow was taken as a single dose, and lasted for 12 hours, but that (taken once per day) the effects lasted longer.

Seamless beverage application

“We had to find the right partner and the right application to bring it [Fruitflow] to the US consumer in a consumer-friendly way. This was a great opportunity to partner with Langer’s Juice,” a Royal DSM spokeswoman told BeverageDaily.com today.

“Tomato juice is a really great match for it, because Fruitflow is a natural extract taken from tomatoes, it’s a seamless application.

So what kind of channels was Royal DSM looking to target in the States beyond major retailers? Could the platelet-smoothing benefit be targeted at long-haul airline passengers worried about deep vein thrombosis, for instance, as DSM suggested in 2010?

“I believe there is currently a product available that is targeted for the inflight consumer that has Fruitflow in it. Those products already exist, although I’m not sure how broad the distribution channels are,” the spokeswoman said.

“But we’re really excited that this is the first time consumers in California can purchase this product in beverage form. And there are hopes it will gain a larger, more national distribution in the US.”