中国是一个植物提取物出口大国，由于海外有相当数量的犹太人，国外要求产品通过kosher 犹太食品认证，这样可以向犹太人推销。因为宗教缘故，葡萄籽提取物等葡萄来源地产品一直无法获得犹太 Kosher 证书。现在，葡萄皮提取物出现转机，这对植物提取物行业是一个好消息。

 

Kosher grape skin extract responds to US demand

 

By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 15-May-2009

 

Related topics: Industry, Antioxidants, carotenoids

 

Chr. Hansen has partnered with wineries in France and Italy to produce grape skin-derived red colorings for kosher-certified beverages, as well as polyphenols for the dietary supplement industry. 

Although Chr. Hansen has long been producing non-kosher grape-derived red colors for beverages, the company said that until now their use in the US has been restricted because of their non-kosher status. 

 

Bertrand Martzel, business development manager for beverages at Chr. Hansen Color, told FoodNavigator-USA.com that the development responds to demand from Chr. Hansen’s US customers for kosher grape skin extract products. 

 

He said: “There are other colors available, but when you are a doing a beverage with 15 or 20 percent grape juice it’s always nicer to use a grape skin extract for color…We use European grapes which are really rich in color.” 

 

The company said that the extract “meets all the requirements as outlined in Jewish dietary law while providing stable, beautiful red shades in low pH beverage applications in a convenient powder form.” 

 

Antioxidants 

 

The grape skin extract is also a source of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols, so will also provide a kosher source for the dietary supplement industry. The particular polyphenols in found in grape skins are anthocyanins, which have been linked to reducing the risk of cancer, although researchers have cautioned that significant study is still needed in this area. 

 

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However, at the concentrations used to color beverages, the dose would be too low to enable drinks manufacturers to make any kind of antioxidant claim, Martzel said. 

 

The new extract has Circle K kosher certification, and the company said it provides a range of ‘vivid and stable’ red hues. 

 

Kosher’s wide appeal 

 

The popularity of kosher foods even amongst the non-Jewish community in the US has boomed in recent years. According to Mintel’s Global New Products Database, 28 percent of all US food and beverage launches during 2008 carried a kosher symbol, and kosher has been the top individual claim for new American food products since 2005. 

 

Kosher restrictions for grape products derive from laws against idolatry: Wine was routinely offered in ancient pagan ceremonies, so the use of wines and grape products handled by non-Jews was forbidden. 

 

However, senior new product analyst at Mintel Krista Faron said that kosher’s increasing popularity is a reflection of consumer perception that there is a more thorough safety inspection process in place. 

 

“My sense is that consumers probably couldn’t tell us what kosher meant, but the kosher mark is reassuring,” she said.