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The massive ad campaign behind Activia yogurt continues to buoy the entire digestive health category. Probiotics are the big beneficiaries, but there are a host of other ingredients whose demand curves are trending up, too.
You can thank Jamie Lee Curtis’ bowels for the digestive health category’s solid performance.
The actress’ Dannon Activia yogurt commercials—and subsequent parodies—have introduced everyone from high-schoolers to grannies to the importance of digestive health, says Danielle Harrison, scientific and regulatory affairs manager at National Enzyme Co. Activia has brought probiotics to the forefront of consumers’ minds, but old-school ingredients like aloe, fiber and enzymes, along with new gut-health formulations, are also benefiting from the Jamie Lee Jolt.
“While the category is still dominated by probiotics, we’re seeing double-digit growth in nonprobiotic ingredients,” says Dan Murray, vice president of business development at Xsto Solutions, which distributes PepZin GI, a Japanese chelated zinc and L-carnosine (zinc carnosine) ingredient that supports the structure and function of the mucosal lining in the stomach and digestive system. PepZin GI is backed by 14 clinical studies, and an open-label trial of the ingredient’s effect on elderly people taking prescription pain relievers is underway.
The digestion functional ingredient category took longer to develop than predicted, Murray says, because of the “plethora of over-the-counter products that are very cheaply priced.” But conventional antacids don’t address underlying digestive conditions and problems that health-conscious people are looking to solve, Harrison adds; hence the growing desire for digestive health ingredients.