Cholesterol-Lowering Food Products Race to Market - But Not Without Some Stumbles
By Pam Ahlberg
Three separate developments this week have drawn attention to Finland's Raisio Group and Anglo-Dutch Unilever and their efforts to get a cholesterol-lowering food product to market.
Unilever's Sandwich Spread Get Snagged by European Commission
On Wednesday, Unilever suffered a possible delay in plans to launch its cholesterol-cutting sandwich spread, "Flora pro-activ".
Flora pro-activ, containing a compound that blocks cholesterol absorption in the body, gained marketing approval from Dutch regulators in January, starting a 60-day period for comment or objection from other EU states. However, some members for the European Commission, the 15-nation European Union's regulatory authority, have asked for more scientific discussion with Unilever on the product. This will delay Unilever's entrance into markets that Raisio Group expects to launch Benecol this spring - namely Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Britain.
Unilever Says, "Take That!"
It was also announced this week that Unilever is suing Raisio in a Dutch court, alleging that Benecol infringes on the trademark of Unilever's Becel margarine.
The 35-year-old Becel has no specific cholesterol-lowering agent but its status as the best-selling margarine in the Benelux market is based in part on its association with heart health -- an association Benecol also claims, Unilever said.
Raisio claims that Benecol was not named with Becel in mind. Rather, its name was derived from the phrase ``benefits cholesterol.''
Low-Fat Benecol Gets High Marks
But good news for Raisio also came this week with results of a recent clinical study showing that low-fat versions of Benecol margarine can reduce the levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood by an average of 24% when combined with a low-fat, low- cholesterol diet. The results will be published in this month's issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
This latest research is consistent with earlier results. In November the New England Journal of Medicine published research that found regular Benecol margarine reduced LDL cholesterol by an average of 14%.
Glitches Persist
But despite the good news from the study, the U.S. launch of Benecol is expected to be delayed until May after the FDA decided last month that the margarine must be sold as a normal spread rather than as a functional food.
For both companies there is also the matter of added competition. Johnson & Johnson and Swiss drug maker Novartis AG both have plans for adding cholesterol-lowering compounds to food products such as ice cream and yogurt.
The race between Unilever and the Raisio represents the struggle to secure a foothold in this new "functional food" margarine/sandwich spread category. And with analysts predicting that the annual sales potential of such products runs into the billions of dollars, it's no wonder they're running.