Immunity supplements still on top

Many months after the World Health Organization declared the H1N1 virus a global pandemic in June 2009, consumers continue to take immunity supplements seriously. According to Schaumburg, Ill.-based market research firm SPINS, sales of “deep immune-support” products remained strong in the 52 weeks ending November 27, 2010.

Echinacea and probiotics are the two immune-ingredient kings. Echinacea ingredient sales registered a healthy $21 million in food, drug and mass markets and another $9.3 million in the natural channel, SPINS reports. Meanwhile, probiotics snagged more than $1 billion in sales in the FDM channel, up 35 percent from the previous year, plus $310 million among natural-products store shoppers, a 10.4 percent increase.

Probiotics
Global Industry Analysts, a market research firm in San Jose, Calif., predicts the worldwide probiotics market will reach $29 billion by 2015. Europe is the largest and fastest-growing market, with Germany and the United Kingdom accounting for 45 percent, followed by Japan.

Danish company Chr. Hansen has been poised to capitalize on this trend since 1986, when hundreds of studies were conducted on its probiotic strains. In September 2010, research published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that daily supplementation of Chr. Hansen’s BB-12 strain may significantly reduce respiratory infections in newborns. This was one of the first studies of its kind to focus on children younger than 1, says Birgit Michelsen, director of scientific affairs in the Chr. Hansen health and nutrition division.

Another long-time leader in the category is Institut Rosell-Lallemand of Montreal, which makes ProbioKid. A recent study found that the ingredient’s unique combination of three proprietary probiotic strains (two Bifidobacteria, one Lactobacillus) and the prebiotic fiber FOS can reduce infections in children by 25 percent during the winter, compared with a placebo.