Cognis Nutrition & Health and WILD Flavors, Inc. are helping companies avoid costly roadblocks in launching functional foods and beverages. As they celebrate the one-year anniversary of their collaboration agreement to jointly develop innovative flavor systems with health benefits, the two industry leaders explained why there is a growing demand for their unique combination of services.

“Striking a balance between making a food healthy yet delicious and appealing at the same time, is no easy task as many formulators are discovering,” said Dave Eckert, Vice President, Cognis Nutrition & Health. “In-house staff often require outside expertise to achieve successful new products and avoid operational bottlenecks. We offer turnkey solutions to help create healthy products that taste great, have a reasonable shelf life, and meet regulatory standards – all at a profit for our customers.”

Cognis and WILD are currently working on new applications with Omega-3 fish oils, which Cognis is launching under the brand name Omevital™ at the IFT Food Expo in Chicago. “With the exploding interest in creating new products with fish oils, the formulating challenges can be daunting given the inherent sensory characteristics of the raw material,” said Greg Horn, WILD’s Senior Director, Technology and Innovation. “Together with Cognis we are finding innovative solutions to use their Omega-3 fish oil, which is neutral in flavor and aroma, in a variety of foods and beverages.”

Mr. Horn pointed out that with so many challenges in new product development; it is understandable why so few new products succeed. “Last year, we conducted a webcast with Cognis and based on the overwhelming number of questions we received during the interactive Q&A, companies formulating new products don’t just have a few problems—they have a lot! Cognis and WILD have more than 115 years of combined food technology experience to help companies avoid common pitfalls that waste time and money.”

Cognis and WILD are ready to assist food product developers with a complete formulation for a functional food fortified with Omega-3 fatty acids or other nutrients such as plant sterols for heart health or lutein esters for eye health. Most importantly, the complete formulation includes the optimum flavor system for the functional food, provided by WILD’s longstanding expertise in flavor technology.

For more information, please contact Scott Backman at scott.backman@cognis.com or call 708-579-6188.

About Cognis:
Cognis (www.cognis.com) is a worldwide supplier of innovative specialty chemicals and nutritional ingredients, with a particular focus on the areas of wellness and sustainability. The company employs about 8,000 people, and it operates production sites and service centers in 30 countries. Cognis has dedicated its activities to a high level of sustainability and delivers natural source raw materials and ingredients for food, nutrition and healthcare markets, and the cosmetics, detergents and cleaners industries. Another main focus is on products for a number of other industries, such as coatings and inks, lubricants, textiles, as well as agriculture and mining. The subsidiary Pulcra Chemicals offers specialized chemical products and process expertise to customers in the fiber, textile, and leather industries. Cognis also holds a 50-percent stake in the joint venture Cognis Oleochemicals, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of oleochemicals. Cognis is owned by private equity funds advised by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and SV Life Sciences. In 2006, Cognis recorded sales of 3.37 billion euros and an Adjusted EBITDA (operating result) of 394 million euros.

About WILD:
In the United States, WILD Flavors, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio (www.wildflavors.com) delivers innovative flavor, color, ingredient system and process technology solutions to the food and beverage industry. WILD continues to provide innovative and great tasting concepts as well as ingredients through application expertise and technological advancements.

The WILD portfolio covers flavors, flavor systems, extracts, fruit and vegetable preparations, concentrates, seasonings, natural colors, health & wellness ingredients, sweetening systems and specialty ingredients such as functional flavors. WILD and Allied Companies worldwide have 2,500 employees and operate 14 manufacturing facilities and 70 offices around the world.

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