Awards

 Best of the Industry awards this year, we are highlighting three winners for their contributions in 2022.

These are companies investing in the future. Take this year’s Industry Leader, 

. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, Brightseed and its partners are discovering the world’s next generation of ingredients that will benefit human health. Some of these discoveries are already coming to market, and in our awards story, we recognize the company’s many advances this year.

Our second award winner, in the Ingredient Supplier category, is 

, a company that’s dedicated itself to developing Ahiflower, a sustainable, plant-derived source of omega fatty acids. The company is spreading the word that a non-marine source of omegas is possible—and is sorely needed by a world deficient in these critical nutrients.

, a company working to elevate standards and quality in the black seed product market specifically. The company is shining a light on what exactly companies and consumers need to look for to identify high-quality ingredients—something we can all appreciate.

These companies are looking to the future of the industry and charting a better path forward in health and wellness in ways that will benefit not only the companies themselves but all of us.

Join us in congratulating our 2022 Best of the Industry award winners. Read their stories and stay tuned for the upcoming December episode of 

 in which we take you beyond the page with one-on-one interviews with each of our award winners.

Ingredient Supplier: Natures Crops International

Articles

In Nutritional Outlook’s 2022 Best of the Industry Awards, we recognize individuals, groups, and companies whose initiatives today are helping to shape, for the better, the state of the dietary supplement and natural products industry.

Nutritional Outlook’s 2022 Best of the Industry Award Winners

The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) can conjure all kinds of associations influenced by decades of inventive science fiction, but in reality, it’s just an innovative new tool that, when applied to the right goals, can have a genuinely positive impact. Case in point is San Francisco, CA–based Brightseed, 

 pick for our 2022 Best of the Industry Awards Industry Leader.

Brightseed, an AI-driven data and bioscience company, uses its AI platform, Forager, to find new bioactive compounds that have the potential to support human health. With Forager, Brightseed can significantly speed up the research and development process to create innovative and scientifically validated nutraceutical products while also contributing new insights into human health and nutrition.

Put simply, Forager accomplishes this by drawing connections between compounds found in plants and their potential biological mechanisms, based on clinical evidence. “Forager comprises three main modules,” explains Jim Flatt, co-founder and CEO of Brightseed. “The first module enables identification of the 99% of ‘dark matter,’ the small molecule compounds in plants that have not yet been characterized. The second module is a digital model of human health that enables the prediction of compounds that will beneficially modulate clinically validated biological mechanisms that are determinants of various health conditions. The third module enables prediction of the best plant sources capable of producing novel bioactive compounds of interest.”

The third module is informed by research conducted by Brightseed’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Lee Chae, at Stanford University’s Carnegie Institution for Science’s Department of Plant Biology. According to Chae, “Forager makes these connections by offering a deeper and broader view into the chemical composition of plants as well as a mechanistic prediction of how they act in the human body.”

It is this level of this insight that allows Brightseed to form testable hypotheses about how certain bioactives will impact specific pathways and receptors in the body that lead to specific health benefits, Chae explains. From there, Brightseed can design and interpret nutritional trials with greater speed and accuracy. “As Forager’s data sets grow, we are traversing molecules and new chemical landscapes that have long gone unexplored,” he adds. “Machine learning enables this bioactive data collection and discovery at a pace, depth, and scale that were previously unachievable.”

According to Brightseed’s calculations, only about 1% of potential bioactives have been studied scientifically, but its work with Forager has increased this number exponentially into tens of thousands of predicted bioactives, claims Chae. “This large-scale mapping increases our speed and likelihood of success translating a discovery into a commercial product,” he explains. “We were able to discover, translate, develop, and commercialize our bioactive product in less than five years, compared to the typical 8-10 years it takes to develop and commercialize a new ingredient. We did this all while building our young company. We hope in the future we can further speed up our pipeline to reduce this time to 3-4 years per discovery.”

. This is the first ingredient developed and commercialized by Brightseed that is based on Forager’s discovery of two novel bioactives: N-trans-caffeoyltyramine (NCT) and N-trans-feruloyltyramine (NFT). Forager found these compounds in over 80 common edible plant sources, with the greatest abundance in hemp seed hulls. Preclinical data confirmed that NCT and NFT act as potent HNF4-alpha activators to support proper liver and metabolic function, as well as a healthy gut barrier lining. Now, Brightseed Bio 01, introduced to the market this fall, is being marketed as a novel dietary hemp fiber ideally suited for functional food and beverage products. The company has partnered with Puris (Minneapolis) to create a product prototype called BioCrisp+, which combines Bio 01 with Puris pea protein to create a crunchy product for inclusion in cereals, bars, and baked goods.

One can view Brightseed Bio 01 as a proof of concept of both Brightseed’s Forager technology as well as its manufacturing and commercialization capabilities. For Brightseed, this is only the beginning. The company recently closed a 

 for a total of $120 million in capital which Brightseed will use to expand its R&D and commercialization efforts. On top of this, Brightseed has ongoing partnerships with numerous brands that see the potential of the Forager platform for new product development, including the likes of 

. Outside of the growth and success of the company, Brightseed’s founders also recognize the larger implications of its Forager platform to benefit mankind.

In a recent article Flatt wrote for the World Economic Forum, ahead of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, he proposed that bioactive compounds found in nature are the most potent tool for transforming nutrition as part of a public health initiative. As Americans fall short of daily fruit and vegetable intake requirements, fueling chronic disease on a massive scale, “it’s not an exaggeration to say that unlocking more bioactives and mapping their effects on our biological systems has a seismic and global potential to transform human health,” wrote Flatt. With tools like Forager, this knowledge can be accelerated for rapid development of solutions.

“There is a global opportunity to accelerate clinical studies on known and newly discovered bioactives to expand the breadth of scientific knowledge, which in turn will accelerate government and industry adoption of these evidence-based natural solutions for consumers,” says Sofia Elizondo, Brightseed’s co-founder and COO. “Bioactives need to be included in an expanding definition of what the FDA considers ‘healthy’ and regulated so consumers can benefit from them, and industry can innovate with them.”

For Brightseed, applying Forager’s insights on a larger scale with partners in the food and health industries means more widespread adoption of previously unknown bioactives as resulting new dietary ingredients and drugs hit the marketplace. “We firmly believe that bioactives should be acknowledged as a key element for maintaining, supporting, and restoring human health, and Brightseed’s work is paving the way towards that future,” says Elizondo.

The work continues. With production and commercialization of Bio 01 underway, Forager continues to crunch its numbers. Chae tells 

 that there is currently a pipeline of more than a dozen discovery programs through which Brightseed is working to identify bioactives across numerous health areas, including cognitive, metabolic, digestive, and immune health.

“Our pipeline of novel bioactive ingredients plans to address some of the most pressing and unmet consumer health conditions including metabolism, weight management, glucose management, cognitive health, sleep, stress, and more,” says Elizondo. “By focusing on these key health areas, we hope to provide ingredients that are an integral part of full-body, proactive health.”

Brightseed’s innovative AI platform, Forager, is unlocking the potential of plant bioactives while also accelerating research and development of novel ingredients.

Nutritional Outlook’s 2022 Best of the Industry Awards, Industry Leader: Brightseed

Jennifer Grebow is the editor-in-chief of 

, an award-winning media-content provider in the dietary supplement and natural products market. 

, an MJH Life Sciences brand, provides insights and industry updates critical to manufacturers of dietary supplements, healthy foods, and nutritious beverages. 

 keeps industry abreast of current market trends, research updates, news, and regulatory developments. 

goes beyond the 24-hour news cycle and provides in-depth analysis to help industry players navigate the challenges and changes in the near- and long-term. 

, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America, dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels.

If Ahiflower oil seems too good to be true, that’s because it almost is. Imagine if the world found a way to increase population levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA—all without having to raid marine ecosystems? That’s the promise of Ahiflower, a complete and balanced 

 source of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. It’s what Natures Crops International (Winston-Salem, NC), Ahiflower’s discoverer, believes makes this ingredient the world’s most important plant-based source of omega fatty acids heading into the future.

The company, founded in 2007, discovered Ahiflower quite by accident. Ahiflower oil is extracted from the 

) plant. “Under the guidance of one of the inventors of Lorenzo’s oil”—a medicinal oleic acid and erucic acid mixture extracted from rapeseed oil and olive oil—“we were looking for specific plant species within the family 

because the published literature—this was before Google or Wikipedia was a thing—indicated that this family were predisposed to accumulating omega-3s, especially stearidonic acid, in their seed oils,” recounts Andrew Hebard, CEO and founder of Natures Crops International. “The mission simply was to find a plant-based alternative to fish oil that could be grown by farmers and scaled up globally and not cost-prohibitively. Purely by coincidence, one of the species, 

 happened to be a weed native to the UK, also known as stone seed or corn gromwell. We literally stumbled upon it growing in a hedgerow.”

What makes Ahiflower such a valuable find is that it contains 

omega-3 fatty acids—primarily stearidonic acid (SDA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)—

omega-6 fatty acids—primarily gamma-linolenic acid (GLA).

First off, SDA and ALA are precursors to the long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), meaning that the body naturally converts these plant-based omega-3s into EPA and DHA. As we know, EPA and DHA have been clinically shown to play critical roles in cardiovascular and neurological health, among other benefits. So by consuming Ahiflower’s plant-based omega-3s, you end up getting the studied health benefits of EPA and DHA in the end.

 source of these omega-3 fatty acids; it is the 

 source of these omega-3. For instance, SDA is the plant-based omega-3 fatty acid that converts most readily to EPA and DHA; it converts to EPA and DHA at four times the rate that the other plant-based omega-3 fatty acid, ALA, does. And Ahiflower just so happens to be the richest, non-genetically modified, plant-derived source of SDA.

Furthermore, unlike marine omega-3 fatty acids, Ahiflower also contains omega-6 fatty acids like GLA, which offers additional benefits for the skin, hormones, and inflammation. And although other plant-based sources of GLA exist, such as evening primrose oil and borage oil, the fact that you can opt for Ahiflower oil and get not only GLA but also the rich source of omega-3s SDA and ALA makes Ahiflower “a truly unrivaled omega source, naturally complete and balanced, containing more and healthier omegas than any other natural plant or seed oil on the planet,” the company says.

A critical question is why would someone choose a plant-based omega source like Ahiflower, whose fatty acids must first convert to EPA and DHA, instead of going straight for the preformed EPA and DHA fatty acids contained in traditional marine-based omega sources like fish oil? Simply put, sustainability. Already, the world is monitoring threats to the planet’s fish stocks and marine ecosystems. Industries like marine-based omega-3s have had to be very careful not to overfish and overtax these environments. Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to tap into marine sources at all but were still able to get the omega fatty acids we need for health? Enter Ahiflower, gotten solely from regeneratively grown plants.

The next question is whether Ahiflower’s fatty acids convert well into the long-chain PUFAs EPA and DHA, which pose so many researched health benefits. One of the debates in the omega industry has been whether or not plant-based sources convert efficiently to EPA and DHA. Some automatically assume that preformed EPA and DHA from marine sources are superior. However, says Natures Crops, “Emerging preclinical and clinical science indicates that plant-based ALA and SDA convert to circulating DHA relatively rapidly and achieve adequate brain DHA levels, while significantly elevating circulating EPA levels especially from higher omega-3 SDA intakes. This challenges the accepted consensus that plant-based omega-3 sources don’t convert to DHA ‘efficiently.’”

The proof is in the science. Most recently, in 2022, for instance, University of Toronto researchers in Canada

 showed “controlled evidence in mammals that Ahiflower maintains DHA levels in key tissues like the brain and liver and converts (biosynthesized) DHA nearly as efficiently as marine-based DHA,” says Hebard.

Evidence like this will continue to be critical in convincing the world that plant-based sources 

 be an optimal source of the omega-3s our bodies need. “The implication of recognizing that most humans are naturally efficient plant-based omega-3 converters is profound,” the company states. “It could shift the present global reliance on wild-harvested forage fish oil to regeneratively farmed sources. Practically every temperate climate country around the world could participate in their production.”

The need for omega-3s is great. As has been so often reported, modern diets are severely deficient in omega-3s, and the high intake of omega-6 linoleic acid (LA) in Western diets additionally throws off the optimal omega-3:6 ratio, further reducing the efficient conversion of EPA and DHA.

Ahiflower continues to lead the pack of plant-based omega sources. “Until Ahiflower oil came onto the market in 2015, brands and consumers had basically three options in omega-3 supplements: ALA-based (flax, chia, perilla); wild marine-based (fish or krill); and algal-based (mostly DHA),” says Greg Cumberford, vice president of science and regulatory, Natures Crops. “In omega-6 GLA supplements, the choices were dominated by borage and evening primrose oils. Ahiflower oil’s unique fatty acid composition—it has the richest omega-3-6-9 levels of any natural omega source—combines the healthful attributes of flax, fish, evening primrose, and olive oils, all in one regeneratively grown plant source.”

It also offers formulation benefits. “Ahiflower is inherently more stable oxidatively than marine or algal EPA/DHA oils due to its shorter-chain omega-3 and -6 fatty acids,” he points out. “This translates to longer shelf stability and more diverse delivery system options, including in a range of food and beverage formats that longer-chain PUFAs are much harder to formulate with.” As such, he says, “Ahiflower oil’s clean taste and aroma allows companies to widen omega-3 applications and inclusion levels in more food-friendly food and beverage formats than is typically possible from marine or algal-based sources. Think: gummies, plant-based milks, squeeze-pouches, emulsions, snack bars, chocolates, and culinary oils.”

Natures Crops’ mission is to expand Ahiflower’s footprint in the omegas world. The company is making some traction, and it unleashed a host of innovations in 2022 that will expand the ways in which companies can use Ahiflower in health-promoting products.

For instance, at this November’s SupplySide West trade show in Las Vegas, Natures Crops introduced a 

, developed with CoreFX Ingredients (Evanston, IL), which ultimately gives product formulators a convenient powder form of the ingredient for products like protein and meal-replacement powders.

Says Cumberford, “Today, most consumer-facing brands are offering Ahiflower oil in health supplement formats, notably pourable omega-rich oils, vegan softgels, meal-replacement powders, and gummies. The most popular formats today are vegan softgels and gummies, with pourable or pumpable liquids following closely behind. With the recently launched CoreFX Dry Ahiflower 70GA powder making a fairly big splash at SupplySide West, we expect that a lot of innovation in foods and beverage preblend mixes and emulsions will launch in 2023-2024.”

Categories where he says the company would like to see Ahiflower “flourish” include refrigerated plant-based milks, ready-to-drink beverages in aseptic boxes, protein powder blends, kids’ squeezable fruit/veggie pouches and gel sticks, and pre- and post-exercise snack bars. “These are all examples of convenient, lifestyle-enhancing, non-pill formats in which Ahiflower oil can complement other functional actives like vitamins, minerals, probiotics, enzymes, and amino acids,” says Cumberford.

Another innovative partnership in 2022 took place between the company and algal omega-3 producer Algarithm Ingredients (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) to create 

blends of Ahiflower oil with Algarithm’s DHA ingredients

. “We partnered with Algarithm because their algal DHA products are of the highest stability and sensory quality, their DHA oils are fully traceable to source and processed without solvents (like Ahiflower oil), their company has zero infrastructure invested in marine omegas, and they are based in Canada just like Natures Crops for simpler end-to-end ingredient supply,” Cumberford explains. “We could not ask for more alignment on our companies’ core values and desire to make omega nutrition more regenerative, good tasting, and affordable. We decided to offer Ahiflower oil in DHA-enhanced blends to allow brands that want or need to state a DHA milligram amount on their labels an easier onramp, industry-leading sensory quality, and a simpler, more direct supply source.”

Of course, what brings home the story of Ahiflower ultimately is its enduring message of sustainability. Further cementing this, Natures Crops this fall announced the company achieved coveted 

 attesting to its high standards for both social and environmental performance. Of this landmark achievement, Hebard says, “Honestly, it’s one of the highlights of my 35-year career in the agricultural, food, and natural products industry because it speaks so clearly to our ‘why,’ as Simon Sinek has encouraged us to think about. We pursued it for various reasons but primarily to demonstrate that we walk the talk as well as talk the talk when it comes to trying to be a better business and to give social and environmental matters a voice and accountability alongside, and in many cases ahead of, profitability.”

And while Ahiflower is still a newer ingredient, Natures Crops is working hard to spread awareness and teach the world about its value as a critical omega source for the future. “For me,” says Hebard, “Ahiflower is about leaving a legacy behind that in its own small way can improve human health and nutrition, provide a valuable new crop with really important environmental benefits for farmers to grow, and greatly reduce the pressures on our oceans from the unnecessary harvesting of millions of tons of small oily fish. How many people or businesses get to really pioneer something like this and leave it behind for future generations? Our moonshot is to eventually have over 1.0 million acres of Ahiflower cultivated globally as a regenerative and terrestrial solution to addressing the huge omega imbalance that commodity agriculture and fast food has created. We have started to build something that I feel will be so impactful in the future, and I must say that without the support of our brand partners who have helped us move forward, and the belief, passion, and ability of my team at Natures Crops, we wouldn’t be here. Although ambitious, I hope we can be an exemplar of how to build a business combining human and planetary wellness whilst providing a meaningful return to all stakeholders.”

 asked Andrew Hebard, CEO and founder of Natures Crops International, and Greg Cumberford, vice president of science and regulatory, some additional questions about Ahiflower.

How has the Ahiflower market, and Natures Crops’ Ahiflower business, grown over the past two decades?

 We’ve gone from "Ahi-what?" and a crop that we sowed more than we reaped to now having a little bit of traction in the healthy oils category (especially omega-3s) and a prolific crop that farmers have really embraced growing. I think we have achieved quite good visibility in the North American B2B supplement space, but we’ve got a long way to go before we reach our target of ubiquity in the consumer space! I feel like we are transitioning from being pioneers of a new generation of plant-based omegas to being recognized as a genuine alternative to marine lipids and really helping address the deficit of omega-3s in our diets.

What patents does Natures Crops International hold on Ahiflower?

 We use Plant Variety Rights (PVR) protection instead of conventional general utility patents. These allow us to breed and protect our own proprietary plant genetics and unique varieties, such that wherever the trademark Ahiflower is seen, the products came from Natures Crops’ unique and protected crops.

Where and how in the world are Ahiflower crops grown?

 All crops are grown under strict identity-preserved contracts with our farmer partners, and all are grown following regenerative-agriculture practices and cultivated under our agronomic team’s direct supervision. Currently, commercial production is in the UK, but we anticipate growing in the Canadian maritime region in the future and in some strategic southern hemisphere regions once our oil demand requires it.

What are the health benefits of Ahiflower oil for body and skin? What are the key health markets for Ahiflower?

 We are seeing two distinct yet overlapping health areas. One is the condition-specific health areas widely associated with omega-3s, such as supporting inflammation management, immune function, gut health, cardiovascular, and cognition; the other is all round nutritional health and vitality through having a better, complete, and balanced fat intake. Where I think the whole omega-3 industry agrees and should converge is that our diets are completely out of whack regarding omega-3, and our mission at Natures Crops is to find sustainable, affordable, and effective ways to address this.

Are there any business partners that Natures Crops wants to mention, partners it works with on Ahiflower?

 Gosh, there’s quite a few, but broadly they are all our UK farmer partners who have done an absolutely sterling job of helping us take a somewhat diminutive weed where we sowed more than we reaped and transformed it into a regeneratively grown, valuable, and profitable rotation crop (and reaping more than we sow)—and all our many brand and distribution partners who have trusted us with their brands, who share our vision for a plant-based omega future, and who have taken the time to dig into the science and challenge the status quo about omega nutrition. I really want to give a callout to some of our first pioneering brands like Clean Machine, Greens First, and Plexus who have courageously and successfully pioneered this value proposition. I’d also like to recognize consumer need-state pioneers like Nouri (gut health), Forest Remedies (immune health), R3SET (anxiety/sleep), Braini (cognitive), and Wiley’s Finest (overall wellness) for advancing innovative delivery formats that respond really well to consumer demand.

Ahiflower has been a player in the plant-based ingredients scene for a while. Why does this ingredient still command interest even in a broadening plant-based ingredients space?

 In the 50+ year life of the EPA/DHA omega-3 supplement market, Ahiflower oil is still relatively new and achieving wider mass consumer awareness in the past couple of years. Food and beverage markets have vast white space opportunities, to say nothing of rapidly rising pet-supplement opportunities. Many mainstream omega-3 supplement brands still have not complemented their marine-based omega supplements with Ahiflower oil, so significant market growth potential exists. Ahiflower oil commands growing interest because its emerging science is so compelling as a no-sacrifice alternative to marine omegas and its versatility across a wider range of food-friendly, non-capsule formats. On every point of trending consumer demand— regenerative, plant-based, vegan, clean tasting, complete and balanced, supporting overall wellness—Ahiflower oil products deliver exactly that with no ocean extraction, genetic modification, or omega-3 conversion efficiency downsides. In 2023-2024, consumers and practitioners will see many more Ahiflower-based offerings boosted by ever-stronger clinical science validation, all of which points to people getting all the daily omegas they need for optimal wellness from plant-based sources, led by Ahiflower.

What are some of the key research findings on Ahiflower this year?

 With our research partners, we completed three very impactful studies that are further shaping and leading the plant-based omega movement. They are: 1) Controlled evidence in mammals that Ahiflower maintains DHA levels in key tissues like the brain and liver and converts to new (biosynthesized) DHA nearly as efficiently as marine-based DHA.

 2) Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled evidence in humans that Ahiflower oil plays a unique synergizing role in cognitive wellness—boosting executive function, cognitive flexibility, and reaction times in only 28 days.

 3) Controlled evidence in total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in mice that Ahiflower oil, due to its uniquely high omega-3 SDA and omega-6 GLA levels, promotes ‘immuno-nutrition’ and boosts circulating anti-inflammatory IL-10 that in turn supports immune function, insulin sensitivity, and gut microbiome balance favorably versus fish and soya oil–based TPN emulsions. This publication could have significant future benefits for millions of people who must rely on enteral nutrition.

This year, Natures Crops continued to push Ahiflower’s innovation forward. Can you comment on how Natures Crops plans to continue innovating with Ahiflower?

 Absolutely! We really appreciate and benefit from our brand partners challenging us to be better—better solutions, better innovation, better value. Only 20% of the seeds of Ahiflower are oil, and we are learning that the plant has some most unusual (peculiar!) and interesting properties that we are looking to commercialize. For example, and really quite extraordinarily, the seed coat of Ahiflower is almost exclusively comprised of calcium carbonate (i.e. limestone, just like oyster shells and eggshells). Perhaps this is why it has the colloquial name ‘stoneseed’. Anyway, we are working with cosmetic companies to explore the seed coat’s utilization as an exfoliant in body scrubs. We are also looking at the dog treat market and plant-derived calcium market. Strategically, we initially targeted the supplement market because it allows a higher degree of consumer education and awareness. We felt that was the right entry point, and now we are actively looking at the healthy food and beverage markets, including in companion animal supplements and feed additives.

What other ingredient blends are promising for Ahiflower?

 Any oil-soluble or mid-polar nutraceutical actives in liquid delivery formats are promising as innovative springboards for product differentiation that meet consumer need states. Endocannabinoids, carotenoids, bioflavonoids, peptides, vitamins, pro- and prebiotics, amino acids, and immune-modulatory polysaccharides are all promising candidates. Thinking towards delivery system innovation, vegan milk and spreads, protein powders, gummies, gel tabs, gel sticks, duo-caps, micro-beads, emulsions, and even chocolates all have excellent potential. This on top of simple oil blends.

Have there been any notable recent brand launches featuring Ahiflower?

 Among the most impactful recent brand launches are Forest Remedies’ Ahiflower immune softgels and gummies, Nouri Health’s new prenatal probiotic plus omegas & B6, Purina’s OmegaMatch equine oil, R3SET’s calm and sleep-supporting microbead capsules, and the JimmyJoy Plenny Shake 3.0 meal replacement powders. But watch this space because more exciting brands are launching in early 2023!

Metherel A. “Blood and tissue DHA synthesis and turnover rates are faster in mice fed Ahiflower® oil compared to flaxseed oil using compound-specific isotopic analysis.” Presented at the Canadian Nutrition Society Symposium on May 5-7, 2022.

Braini Gets Patent on Proprietary Cognitive Health Blend

.” NutraIngredients-USA. Published May 16, 2022.

Novel lipid emulsion for total parenteral nutrition based on 18-carbon n–3 fatty acids elicits a superior immunometabolic phenotype in a murine model compared with standard lipid emulsions

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 

Published online ahead of print September 27, 2022.

The Ahiflower pioneer is showing the world how plant-based omegas can provide needed nutrition, sustainably.

Nutritional Outlook’s 2022 Best of the Industry Awards, Ingredient Supplier: Natures Crops International

When Morris Zelkha decides to bring an ingredient to market, he goes 

 in. Case in point: When Zelkha founded lycopene-ingredients supplier LycoRed Ltd. (Be’er Sheva, Israel) decades ago, he started with what was then a lesser-known ingredient. By the time Zelkha left LycoRed as founder and CEO in 2014, LycoRed was arguably the industry’s best-known lycopene and carotenoids supplier, and lycopene had made a name for itself in the nutrition market. Now, Zelkha is doing the same for black seed oil 

Just as he did for lycopene, Zelkha is teaching the market about how to identify a high-quality black seed ingredient. And he’s only just begun.

Immediately after departing LycoRed in 2014, Zelkha joined forces with scientists Itschak Lamensdorf, PhD, and Yoram Sela, PhD, both of who had vast experience in the pharmaceuticals industry. Together, they founded black seed company TriNutra Ltd. (Ness Ziona, Israel). At first, TriNutra devoted itself to developing products for the health practitioners’ channel. Its first product was a cognitive-health product called CogniBen.

Companies and consumers might assume that all black seed ingredients are equal in quality. Unsurprisingly, this is not the case. For instance, Zelkha has been 

 that it is not just a high level of thymoquinone—which is black seed’s main health-promoting active constituent—that determines the effectiveness of a black seed oil ingredient. Rather, companies also need to pay attention to the level of free fatty acid in a black seed ingredient. Free fatty acid forms in black seed oil as a result of oxidation during extraction and processing, and too-high levels of free fatty acid can actually deplete the efficacy of black seed’s thymoquinone.

Unfortunately, there is a wide range in the level of free fatty acid in black seed ingredients currently on the market. So even if companies are touting a high thymoquinone level for their ingredients, the ingredient may still not be utterly effective if its free fatty acid content is too high.

“There is still much education needed on what constitutes a quality black seed oil to the consumer,” says Zelkha. “The importance of understanding the thymoquinone content, full spectrum, and the level of free fatty acid all play crucial roles in the quality and ability of black seed oil.”

He continues: “You can have a high thymoquinone content (over 5%) and high free fatty acid (over 10%), but with this high amount of free fatty acid, most of the thymoquinone benefits are lost. The studies we have done demonstrate how important both levels are to a quality and efficacious black seed oil and the full-spectrum composition.” After all, he points out, full-spectrum oil is what most of black seed’s clinical research focuses on—not just ingredients isolated for thymoquinone content alone.

TriNutra started studying the marketplace years ago to take stock of the range of black seed quality on shelves. In the beginning, “When analyzing the market qualities, we were shocked at how big the variations were,” Zelkha tells 

“Most of the black seed oil products have no thymoquinone content. That is like selling tomato extract without lycopene. We also saw that the thymoquinone content was not added to the label, meaning most of the sales were just oil.” Eventually, he says, companies began listing their products’ thymoquinone content on their labels. “So we analyzed again,” he says, and very recently. “We purchased the top 10 brands selling on Amazon and found there were large gaps between what was printed on the label and the actual amount of thymoquinone; however, the results are still much better than what we found 6-7 years ago.”

TriNutra is devoted to maintaining high standards for its flagship blackseed ingredient, ThymoQuin—which Zelkha describes as “the first standardized cold-press black seed oil and our top-selling product”—and its B’utyQuin black seed oil ingredient for cosmetic products. Among black seed’s most noted benefits are support for fatty liver, sleep and focus, immunity, and stress reduction. For skincare, TriNutra has begun studying B’utyQuin’s ingestible and topical benefits, which may include antioxidant and anti-inflammatory support. Ongoing, the company is investigating black seed oil and immune health, joint health, mitochondrial function, and metabolic health, among other areas.

The company’s ingredients themselves are patented. “TriNutra’s IP-protected and optimal ingredient ratios are formulated with ingredients that are proven to optimize the effectiveness of the product,” Zelkha says. ThymoQuin has also demonstrated higher bioavailability than standard black seed ingredients due to its patented composition that includes sunflower derivatives to improve bioavailability and stability.

The company’s non-GMO seed-breeding program has allowed it to develop a 

 plant that yields high concentrations of thymoquinone and “that thrives in the Israeli climate and yields 2-3 times the thymoquinone content of other top varieties,” he says. Its controlled cultivation process is also designed to prevent oxidation and minimize rancidity in the seeds so that the ingredient does not lose potency during its shelf life. The company works with NS Oils (Israel) for cultivation and production, with production taking place close to the farms where the seeds are cultivated.

One of the ways TriNutra intends to spread black seed oil awareness is by combining the ingredient with other, well-known nutrition ingredients in the market. The company is actively investigating combinations of its black seed oil with popular ingredients like omega-3 fatty acids, hemp oil, lycopene, lutein, vitamin D, astaxanthin, and Pycnogenol.

“The company’s strategy is based on differentiation,” Zelkha says. “There are over 100 brands on Amazon selling black seed oil, and the consumer is not familiar with the different black seed oil qualities. They are, however, familiar with omega-3, astaxanthin, lycopene, hemp oil, etc. These actives can be the platform to create consumer education on ThymoQuin.” These ingredient combinations, whose synergistic effects the company intends to continue studying, “can open a big market for us, and that’s why we’re focusing on it,” he adds.

Black seed can also inject new life into the market of some of these classic ingredients. For instance, “It’s difficult to come up with a new story about omega-3,” Zelkha says. “The combination with ThymoQuin can create a new story for omega-3 and develop a market that’s not available for omega-3 today.”

In 2022, TriNutra patented some ingredient combinations with ThymoQuin. This October, the company received a 

 combined with omega-3 to support healthy inflammatory responses.

The company is also actively investing in and funding health research on its black seed compositions. For instance, in 2022 alone, the company announced newly published studies on its black seed/omega-3 combo that demonstrated 

gut and immune health benefits in athletes

, and a study on ThymoQuin combined with vitamin D3 which 

reduced inflammatory biomarkers and upregulated immune response

. Last year, TriNutra also saw beauty studies published on B’utyQuin, including one showing support for 

skin elasticity, hydration, firmness, and luminosity

, and another showing the ability of B’utyQuin to 

relieve itchy, flaky, irritated skin and scalp

. Researchers also studied TriNutra’s black seed oil composition as an antimicrobial, especially as an antifungal against 

Zelkha says TriNutra would like to see overall quality become more consistent in the black seed oil market. To this end, three years ago the company began helping to develop and finance the creation of a USP monograph for black seed oil, which will be released very soon, Zelkha says.

“The monograph covers the full-spectrum black seed oil standardization, which includes 1) thymoquinone minimum of 3%, 2) p-cymene minimum of 1%, 3) carvacrol no more than 0.1%, 4) free fatty acid no more than 2%, and 5) fatty acid profile,” he adds. Of course, TriNutra’s ingredients meet these standards and are now touted as “USP grade,” he says.

The USP monograph will also help strengthen quality throughout the market, he says. “The monograph can help prevent adulteration, bringing black seed oil to a higher global quality standard. This standard can help differentiate the quality of black seed oils on the market, therefore aiding consumers on which product to buy,” he adds.

Zelkha says there is still much work to be done to make black seed oil a household name. But TriNutra is dedicated to the challenge. “Educating the consumer is very costly and takes time,” he says. “We are ready to lead this work but looking to recover our investment,” he adds. “The patents can help to protect our position.”

He says TriNutra’s business is growing 30% each year, so the company appears to be on its way. And if history has shown, if anyone can further an ingredient’s market, it’s Zelkha and now TriNutra.

“Personally,” he says, “I believe that black seed oil can have a market share similar to omega-3. Bringing awareness of the ingredient and educating on quality will help drive this. When looking at Amazon six years ago, there were only about 40 [black seed oil] brands, but today, there are more than 100. I see this as a good step towards growth—but know this is just the beginning.”

Black cumin seed oil plus fish oil combination modulates gut-immune-axis

Yeun K et al. “Beneficial effect of 3% thymoquinone on stem-cell-mediated improvement in immune system and anti-inflammatory function.” 

Oppen-Bezalel L. et al. “Mitochondrial revitalization for skin rejuvenation by a proprietary, cold-pressed 

 seed (black cumin) oil standardized to 3% thymoquinone.” 

 Published online ahead of print on June 8, 2022

Oppen-Bezalel, L. von et al. “Irritated, itchy, scaly, seborrheic scalp: Causes and relief with a proprietary, cold-pressed 

 (Black Seed) oil, standardized to 3% thymoquinone.” 

Antimicrobial activity by a unique composition of cold pressed 

TriNutra is devoted to a higher-quality and innovative black seed oil market.

Nutritional Outlook’s 2022 Best of the Industry Awards, Ingredient Supplier: TriNutra

 Best of the Industry awards this year, we are highlighting four winners for their contributions in 2021.

Our 2021 Industry Leader is NOW, whose testing of dietary supplement products sold on Amazon.com showed how one supplement company can roll up its sleeves to try to improve the state of the market. This is the second time 

 has named NOW a Best of the Industry award winner. Back in 2011, 

 for a rapid adulteration-screening method that the company shared with the rest of the dietary supplements industry. In 2011, the company set an example; 10 years later, it continues to lead.

Our 2021 Best of the Industry Ingredient Supplier is Seraphina Therapeutics for its groundbreaking work in odd-chain fatty acids and pentadecanoic acid. Seraphina’s story shows how innovation did not take a break, even in the most challenging of times.

In the Service Provider category this year, we are awarding the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP). Five years ago, 

 in our Best of the Industry awards. This year, BAPP celebrates its 10

anniversary educating and warning the botanicals industry about ongoing adulteration—a role that became additionally significant during the past two tumultuous pandemic years.

Finally, we celebrate Good Catch with our 2021 Best of the Industry award for Retail Brand/Product. Within the crowded plant-based alternatives market, Good Catch stands out for pioneering plant-based seafood.

Join us in congratulating our 2021 Best of the Industry award winners. Read their stories and listen to our December episode of 

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of 

 Best of the Industry Awards. We can’t wait to see what excellence the next 10 years bring thanks to you, companies and individuals committed to making the natural products industry bigger and better each passing year.

Ingredient Supplier: Seraphina Therapeutics

Service Provider: Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program

In Nutritional Outlook’s 2021 Best of the Industry Awards, we recognize individuals, groups, and companies whose initiatives today are helping to shape, for the better, the state of the dietary supplement and natural products industry.

Nutritional Outlook’s 2021 Best of the Industry Award Winners

 clicked through the endless pages of dietary supplements sold on Amazon.com and wondered just how many of those products are junk? For good reason. This past summer, U.S. FDA 

 to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warning him that nearly 30 sexual-enhancement and weight-loss supplements sold on Amazon that FDA tested contained “undeclared and potentially harmful drug ingredients.” FDA said it was “concerned” that Amazon’s “filters” for catching unlawful products were “inadequate.”

Not all problems with supplements on Amazon rise to the level of drug spiking, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t concerning. Some products might not contain the amount of active ingredient promised—or might not even contain the ingredient 

—cheating customers paying good money for a product they’re relying on to support their health.

These problems also risk the reputation of the entire dietary supplements industry, an unfortunate reality that keeps responsible supplement brand leaders—of which there are many—up at night. But has any supplement brand actually rolled up its sleeves to find subpar products on Amazon—and then launched a public initiative to share those findings with the entire dietary supplements industry, with Amazon itself, and last, but not least, with FDA?

NOW has. Starting in 2017, the family-owned giant, now in its sixth decade manufacturing its global line of dietary supplements and other products, began testing select supplement products sold on Amazon.com. Many of those products competed with NOW’s own. The company has since tested finished supplement products in some of the most popular categories, including 

“NOW has been testing products purchased on Amazon for several years before we began this strategic program that involved making the results public,” says Dan Richard, NOW’s vice president of global sales and marketing. “We first tested a variety of products in 2017 and did our first category group of CoQ10 products in March 2018.”

The company focuses on testing products from lesser-known brands, often containing ingredients known to be pricey. “We chose categories in which the ingredients are expensive so there is more incentive for the cheaters to cheat. We chose brands that are unknowns, which we guessed would have lower quality-control systems,” says Richard. “NOW did not test larger natural brands because our experience has shown that these brands are typically made with good quality and adhere to FDA’s cGMP requirements,” he adds, referring to current good manufacturing practices.

NOW has vested interest in testing products that compete with its own. “We also chose products that NOW sells, where we saw NOW sales declining on Amazon to ‘no-name’ brands,” Richard says. “Our motive is to level the playing field with equal-quality brands competing with branding and value. We feel that NOW can win when competing fairly.”

Evening the playing field is what drove NOW’s efforts from the start. “Like many manufacturers, from time to time we do quality checks on many brands in the marketplace. It was obvious to us that many of the products sold on Amazon in the higher-priced categories, from brands no one ever heard of, could not possibly be what they claimed on the label. It was also clear many of them were not following the cGMPs as required by law,” Richard explains. “It was enraging, really, to see these unknown brands cheating customers and taking sales from legitimate brands that invest in quality and regulatory compliance. After several rounds of testing just to satisfy our curiosity confirmed our worst suspicions, we decided to strategically test more products in specific categories and share the results with the industry, Amazon, and FDA.”

Once products are purchased from Amazon, they’re tested for content, potency, contaminants and heavy metals, labeling accuracy, and more. In addition to testing in its own laboratories, NOW sends samples to reputable third-party labs such as Eurofins and the University of Georgia’s Center for Applied Isotope Studies to ensure results are not biased.

“One of the important elements of competent testing is that the results are reproducible and can be confirmed,” Richard explains. “Although the industry is well aware of the excellence of NOW’s in-house labs, having confirmation from another well-respected lab removed the potential for questioning the accuracy of the results we publicized.” Not only that, “Additionally, Amazon told NOW that only third-party assays would be considered for action. They felt that in-house labs could not be independent, which may be fair,” he says.

Outsourcing also ensures testing is done by the right experts. Curcumin, for instance, has become a red-hot ingredient, with economic adulteration giving rise to synthetic curcumin adulteration. To test for the presence of synthetic additives, NOW sent curcumin product samples to the University of Georgia’s Center for Applied Isotope Studies for radiocarbon testing. The Center found that 4 out of 23 non-NOW samples tested were spiked with synthetic material. Says Richard: “In the case of checking curcumin to see if it is from turmeric or a synthetic substitution, radiocarbon testing is the method used. It’s highly specialized equipment, and the University of Georgia’s Center for Applied Isotope Studies has experience testing curcumin to determine origin. This is an extra test beyond normal quality control; most brands would only test curcumin/turmeric for potency, not to confirm the source. Because this is a known problem in the industry, quality brands should be testing to confirm their products are not spiked with synthetics.”

After NOW shared such negative findings with both Amazon and FDA, weak reaction from those corners drove NOW to report the results publicly in the hopes of spurring a stronger response.

“We were very frustrated that Amazon would not take any action given that we supplied detailed information on quality lapses,” Richard says. “We also submitted the test results to FDA, and that also didn’t seem to lead to any actions or enforcement. I checked some products that I put in one-star reviews [for], with details on who I am and what the product tested at, to warn potential buyers. These are still selling today on Amazon, so that’s unfortunate.”

Richard recounts some of the problems NOW’s testing uncovered. “Our initial red flag was seeing CoQ10 in 400-mg potencies in dry capsules. Our experience showed that CoQ10 is too sticky to fit 400 mg in a dry capsule with normal encapsulation machines. That’s why we suspected foul play as well as pricing that looked too good to be true.”

“I think the worst we found,” he continues, “was zero potency found with a 400 mg CoQ10 label claim. That is seriously negligent and hard to believe.” It also seriously risks the consumer. “It is well known that many cardiologists recommend CoQ10 400 mg to their patients, so this failure could lead to a very dangerous problem,” Richard points out.

In fact, “All of the expensive ingredients are candidates for quality problems from these no-name brands,” he says. “We have also found items as simple as zinc oxide with under 5% labeled potency, so it’s buyer beware for unknown brands.”

He adds: “Products made with ingredients that are expensive and therefore have a higher price tag are the ones less likely to meet label claims. Cheaters are less likely to put effort into making a low-quality vitamin D even though it’s a popular product, because it isn’t an expensive ingredient. Conversely, cheaters will cheat in various ways even to save a small amount. We did find several brands that labeled products in vegetarian capsules that we tested and found to be gelatin/animal capsules.”

NOW conducts extensive testing on its own products in its in-house lab. Photo from NOW.

Not all test results are as bad. Richard reports that results from glutathione testing the company shared this October actually “were pretty good.” He comments: “This was really a surprise, a good surprise, and demonstrates progress in cleaning up products sold on Amazon.”

NOW hopes Amazon can progress in cleaning up its supplements marketplace. The wheels may be turning. Last December, Amazon launched 

 sold on its site. Supplement marketers must now submit a certificate of analysis and/or third-party certification from reputed third-party certifiers before they can retail on Amazon. This November, Amazon also announced it will require marketers to submit a “valid good manufacturing practice (GMP) certificate issued by an accredited third-party certification body.” It also strengthened rules for high-risk categories like sexual-enhancement and weight-management supplements.

Was it NOW’s public reports that motivated Amazon to toughen up? Or was it FDA’s letter? It could have been both. “We have been providing the test results to Amazon but not gotten direct feedback from them,” says Richard. “While we have no direct statement from Amazon [linking] NOW making the appalling testing results public and the stricter requirements for sellers being instituted, the timing certainly suggests a strong correlation.” Last December, NOW 

 for Amazon’s stricter supplement policies.

For now, says Richard, NOW will continue testing products bought on Amazon and sharing the results with everyone. “We do plan to resume testing products we purchase on Amazon in the new year with different products we suspect are likely to be problematic. We may phase out of this as Amazon’s new quality program leads to positive actions.”

NOW also always includes its own products among those tested from Amazon. “A NOW product is included as a benchmark of what the product test results in the category should look like,” says Richard. “We purchased our own brand from Amazon and tested internally and externally to be consistent with other brands’ testing.” As a testament to NOW’s quality control, “We have not found our own products below label potency in any of our Amazon tests,” he says, noting that the company always comprehensively tests both its raw materials and finished products—conducting approximately 16,000 tests every month—including high-performance liquid chromatography potency verification, “exhaustive” microbial and heavy metal testing, and pesticides and steroids screening. “NOW does such extensive testing that we would find any quality problems before the products left the manufacturing facility,” he declares.

Still, as a result of its initiative, NOW has found at least one area where it may change its practices or products. But it’s not due to poor performance. Richard explains: “When we tested ALA products, it raised the question if we were putting too much overage in our product. NOW adds 5% overage generally, and we formulate our blends to use the most conservative calculations. If ALA purity is 96%-99%, we will formulate to assume 96% is the purity even if we test it higher, meaning we ‘double-add’ overage. There is also some variance with encapsulation to allow some higher and some lower levels. Because of this test, we are reviewing our retained samples to see if NOW should reduce our overage from normal 5% down to 3% for this particular product.”

Richard says NOW has received positive industry feedback for its work. And what of the companies whose negative results NOW broadcasted? “We expected to get pushback, and in fact made sure the NOW board of directors understood that this program could result in legal action against us,” Richard says. But so far it hasn’t. “The fact that this has not happened may mean that the brands we tested could not disprove our findings,” he surmises. “We did have one company contact us about how their product was labeled ambiguously, and we had a friendly exchange,” he adds. “The product was still mislabeled as our test results show zero detectable CoQ10.”

“Some competitors were concerned there would be a negative impact,” he continues, “and others pushed back about the requirements, but far more were pleased to see these bad practices highlighted…A lot of smaller brands and retailers were very happy that NOW was taking this on for the industry.”

Of course, not every supplement sold on Amazon is bad. A good number of respectable companies like NOW sell products online. Not all lesser-known brands are bad, either. Still, Richard points out, “Well-known brands have a reputation to protect, are generally honest, and have quality checks and balances to comply with cGMPs. No one is perfect, but it’s apparent that larger brands that have stood the test of time tend to pass most quality checks.”

The fact is that Amazon needs stronger scrutiny. “Sellers on Amazon can quickly jump into the market and sell a lot of product if they know how to market,” Richard says. “So many marketing brands have launched and stayed exclusively on Amazon because it can be easier to build a brand there.” It’s even easier to get away with selling subpar products online than in brick-and-mortar, he points out, because “physical store brands must be more legitimate in order for chain stores to invest their shelf space into that brand.”

Would NOW ever extend its testing to other online platforms or marketplaces besides Amazon? Not yet. Says Richard: “Only Amazon sells enough product to have such a great effect. eBay would be another platform to investigate, but it would be a much harder search and the impact not nearly as far reaching.”

By exposing those who dare to sell low-quality supplements, NOW is doing what it can to help improve the supplements market. NOW’s leadership and dedication to industry excellence is why 

 named the company this year’s Best of the Industry award winner in the Industry Leader category.

“We want a level playing field, and it’s better for NOW when we are not competing with far lower prices that are only possible because the products are very low quality,” Richard concludes. “We all stand to lose when consumer confidence in our industry’s products is undermined by products that do not deliver the expected benefits, so we benefit from removing all those bad products from the market and preventing new ones from using the same tricks.”

Hear bonus interviews with our award winners on The Nutritional Outlook Podcast!

NOW shows how an industry leader can expose bad products in the dietary supplement market, raise public awareness, and make a difference.