'Beauty from Within' becomes major focus at Cognis.

Targeting the hot topic of "Beauty from Within," Cognis, La Grange, IL, is launching a series of concepts to help customers create foods and beverages that reduce stress, protect skin, and enhance healthy aging. According to the company, market data shows that consumers, especially Baby Boomers, clearly want foods and beverages that can enhance their health and physical appearance. Perspectives from Mintel and Datamonitor support this conclusion. "Winners of the hundreds of new beauty foods and supplements to be launched are predicted to be breakfast beauty drinks and snacks, indulgent products such as chocolate beauty bars, and products with innovative delivery systems such as chewing gum. Cognis is working with customers to help them identify market opportunities, select ingredients, and successfully position their products for this rapidly growing market," the company said.

Multiple Cognis ingredients support these personal care concepts, including Betatene natural mixed carotenoids, Tonalin CLA, Xangold natural lutein esters, Omevital omega 3 fatty acids, and Covitol natural vitamin E.

One example of an effective beauty booster supported by scientific studies is lutein. Products containing Cognis' Xangold natural lutein esters allow food and beverage makers to market the many functional beauty benefits including: "Helps improve skin hydration and elasticity," Improves skin moisture," and "Helps protect against UV damage from sunlight."

Also in the company's arsenal is Tonalin CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). This "body shaper" gives consumers the lean, slim contour they desire, the company claims. Tonalin CLA helps reduce body fat by decreasing the amount of stored fat and increasing the rate of fat metabolism. Research has shown CLA is especially effective in reducing body fat around the waist and thighs. As an added bonus, the ingredient just received GRAS (generally recognized as safe) approval from FDA for use in a wide array of foods and beverages. Tonalin CLA is available in several product forms--oil, water-dispersible powder and emulsions--which offer food manufacturers a broad range of options and easy processing for their new products.

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Lastly, Covitol natural vitamin E is the cornerstone of Cognis' ingredient portfolio and a proven nutrient that promotes healthy skin aging. As a powerful antioxidant, Covitol has the ability to protect the skin from free radical damage. Further, Cognis points out, natural vitamin E is officially recognized as being twice as biologically active as the synthetic version.