Ashland launches extended-release sports drink and effervescent technology at SupplySide West 2019, and announces prebiotic and tart cherry partnerships

Photo from Ashland

Ashland (Wilmington, DE) introduced new ingredients and delivery systems for sports nutrition and digestive health at October’s SupplySide West trade show.

Delivering on Delivery Systems

The company introduced new patent-pending effervescent technology called StableFizz that lets manufacturers avoid the challenges of conventional effervescent technologies. Typically, manufacturing powders and effervescents must be done in facilities where moisture is well controlled in order to maintain flowability and to prevent clumping. It can also require the use of expensive, specialized equipment as well as specific types of packaging.

StableFizz, the company says, is designed to be easy to work with and to allow manufacturers to run production on existing machinery. “This is a tableting excipient that’s effervescent,” said Thomas Durig, PhD, head of R&D and innovation for Ashland Health & Wellness and Pharma. “It compresses well. It’s basically drum-to-hopper. All you need to do is add in your actives and flavors. You can run it on conventional tableting lines. You don’t need special humidity controls. [In terms of retail packaging], you don’t need special sachets or tubes with desiccants in the lid. It’s much more convenient, and it also offers cost savings.” StableFizz can be used for tablets, sachets, and even powders packaged in canisters. It is also ideal for products that deliver electrolytes “because the electrolytes are already part of the effervescent mechanism,” Durig said.

Ashland’s other delivery system innovation at SupplySide West was an extended-release drink technology especially aimed at sports beverages, particularly nutritional shakes. Sustained-release liquid technologies, the company says, are unique in the nutrition industry.

The new Ashland technology is called N-Dur XR for beverages, and it extends nutrient release for up to six hours. This is ideal for athletes who may want to consume a sports drink before exercising while extending the effects of the ingredients during and post-workout, without having to consume both pre- and post-workout drinks separately.

“It’s timed release” and even works if a product is mixed in a blender to make a smoothie or is shaken in a shaker bottle, without causing powders and powder coating to become crushed and ingredients to be immediately released, Durig said. “Even after you make the smoothie, you can let it stand for a while and then drink.” At SupplySide West, Ashland showed off N-Dur XR as an ideal delivery vehicle for essential amino acids (EAAs).

The company is also able to customize the release profile of N-Dur XR, Durig said. “We could customize it to be faster if we want." Ashland is offering N-Dur XR not only in turnkey formulations but also emphasizes that it can be customized with other active ingredients, including nitric oxide boosters, energy ingredients, and creatine. It’s available in an easy-to-use powder with enhanced dispersibility and is also compatible with whey and fruit-based formulations, the company said. It is vegan, as well as kosher and halal certified.

Durig added that N-Dur XR would also be an ideal delivery method for a nighttime product, such as a sleep aid that you could drink before bedtime and that slowly releases its ingredients during the course of the night.

Two New Ingredients: Bimuno Prebiotic and NordicCherry

At SupplySide West, Ashland also announced two new ingredient distribution partnerships.

The first is an exclusive North American distribution agreement with Clasado BioSciences for its Bimuno prebiotic ingredient. “Bimuno is a targeted prebiotic which contains a unique composition of galactooligosaccharides (GOS) to preferentially feed and stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut,” Ashland’s press materials state. “Bimuno prebiotic’s safety and efficacy have been extensively studied in over 45 scientific publications.” At SupplySide West, Ashland distributed samples containing the Bimuno ingredient in a breakfast oatmeal prebiotic bar.

And for the sports market, Ashland is now the exclusive U.S. distributor for Specnova’s NordicCherry tart cherry extract. “NordicCherry tart cherry extract is a highly bioactive, full-spectrum, whole-fruit tart cherry extract on the market. It enhances exercise recovery and enables the consumer to recover faster after a workout. In addition, it reduces soreness after exercise, promotes joint health and mobility, and provides powerful antioxidant support,” Ashland said. It said NordicCherry is not only sustainable but is made with a clean water extraction process without the use of harsh solvents. The company also said it would be an ideal ingredient to use with Ashland's new N-Dur XR sports beverage delivery system.