OmniActive Health Technologies’ ginger extract is now GRAS

Photo © iStockphoto.com/FrancoDeriu

OmniActive Health Technologies (Morristown, NJ) has announced the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status of its high-potency ginger extract, Gingever.

“For an ingredient to be considered GRAS, scientific data and information about the intended use of the substance must be widely known, and there must be a consensus among scientific experts that the data and information established is safe under the conditions of its intended use,” said Deshanie Rai, PhD, FACN, vice president of global scientific and regulatory affairs for OmniActive. “This includes toxicology studies as well as human safety data. Moreover, the extraction and processing of the substance is also critically reviewed as part of the rigorous GRAS evaluation process.”

The independent GRAS conclusion allows Gingever to be used more widely in foods and beverages. “Given the rigor of the review and the necessary documentation required for compiling a dossier, achieving GRAS status is a lengthy and resource-intensive process,” Rai explained. “Although ginger has a long history of safe use as part of our food supply, we went the extra mile to have the safety of our Gingever product, which is formulated using a supercritical CO2 extraction method, verified by independent expert scientists.”

Gingever is designed to support digestion and immune health at a low dosage. For example, 20 mg to 250 mg of the extract can deliver a clinically relevant dose of ginger’s active compounds in a small pill, compared to 1,000 mg of ginger root powder, says OmniActive.