Natto: NattoPharma’s MenaQ7™ PURE Named Best New Ingredient at Natural Products Expo West
Høvik, Norway and Metuchen, NJ (March 9, 2015). NattoPharma ASA and its subsidiary NattoPharma USA, Inc. were honored at the 2015 Engredea trade show, held in Anaheim, CA, March 6-8, to have MenaQ7™ PURE Vitamin K2 as MK-7, a first-in-class, nature-identical synthetic ingredient, recognized as the NutrAward winner for Best Functional Ingredient 2015.
Co-located with Natural Products Expo West, the largest trade show dedicated to the natural products industry, Engredea encompasses the world of ingredients, bringing together the community of leading suppliers and manufacturers to source new ingredients, packaging, technologies, equipment, and services. The NutrAward program was created by New Hope, show organizers and a division of Penton Media, to reward and recognize companies that are investing in rigorous and measurable scientific studies to prove the efficacy of their proprietary ingredients or technologies.
The NutrAward winner is selected based on a weighted vote by the selection committee, as well as by a vote by Engredea and Expo West attendees. Voting is based on how well the ingredient or product meets the defined criteria, which includes:
Scientific Merit – Does the submission reflect sound science and research conducted under appropriate conditions and on appropriate models?
Efficacy – Does the submission confirm that the product, technology, ingredient, instrumentation, equipment,
or service has a demonstrable impact that allows a health-related benefit?
Safety – Has the submission clearly established safety when used or applied?
Innovation – Has the submission shown a unique approach, concept or benefit above and beyond leveraging
prior art or general knowledge in the field? Is the product, technology, ingredient, instrumentation, equipment,
or service truly new and different, and not simply repurposing or reorienting existing knowledge?
Market Potential – Is the concept likely to be commercially successful? Is the target category/application
well-defined and of interest in the current (or future) marketplace?
Ability to Increase Market Credibility – Does the submission support a concept that has the potential to make a
Difference to overall industry and/or marketing credibility?
From an impressive pool of more than 200 nominees, 4 candidates were selected for the final round. The winner – receiving 100 % more votes than number 2 – was NattoPharma and MenaQ7™ PURE. This confirms that the product exceeded the requirements, stemming from the impressive body of research and substantiation that NattoPharma has always put at the forefront of its operations.
“NattoPharma is very proud of the recognition bestowed upon us by the judging committee for the NutrAwards. We have been confident in our pursuit of a nature-identical synthetic product that delivers a bioequivalent molecule to our flagship MenaQ7 material. This award validates that pursuit,” says Frode Bohan, NattoPharma ASA’s Chairman of the Board, who accepted the NutrAward.
Receiving the NutrAward just weeks after the publication of MenaQ7’s cardiovascular study in Thrombosis and Haemostasis marks the crowing achievement of years of hard work and perserverance.
“Observational data has drawn a clear association between vitamin K2 and cardiovascular health, but the accepatance and publication of our interventional study is the proof that our MenaQ7 not only inhibits age-related arterial calcification, but also improves arterial flexibility,” says Hogne Vik, CEO of NattoPharma ASA.
“This study validaties that vitamin K2 can change the way we look at preventative heart health, while this award shows there is a clear need in the market for a standardized, affordable ingredient that gives manufactures an opportunity to bring vitamin K2’s benefits the masses.”
The 2015 NutrAwards for Best Functional Ingredient and Best New Finished Product featuring a Functional Ingredient were awarded Thursday March 5, 2015 at the Engredea/NBJ (Nutrition Business Journal) Reception, a kick off to the 2015 Engredea trade show.
# # #
About MenaQ7®
MenaQ7® is the best documented, commercially available natural vitamin K2 with guaranteed actives and stability, clinical substantiation and international patents granted and pending. For more information on the health benefits of MenaQ7, visit menaq7.com.
About NattoPharma
NattoPharma USA, Inc. is the wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of NattoPharma ASA, Norway, which is the world’s leader in vitamin K2 research and development. NattoPharma is the exclusive international supplier of MenaQ7®, the natural vitamin K2 as MK-7, and the company has been in a multi-year research and development program to substantiate and discover the health benefits of natural vitamin K2 for applications in the marketplace for functional food and dietary supplements. For more information, visit nattopharma.com.
For more information, please contact:
Hogne Vik, CEO NattoPharma
Cell phone: +47 97 53 53 26
E-mail: hogne.vik@nattopharma.com
Director of Communications
Kate Quackenbush
NattoPharma USA, Inc.
Phone: 609-643-0749
E-mail: kate.quackenbush@nattopharma.com
Tags: