Sabinsa’s Novel Food approval for Curcumin C3 Reduct metabolite is a first, company says

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Sabinsa (East Windsor, NJ) has earned Novel Food approval from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for the company’s patented Curcumin C3 Reduct ingredient, enabling the ingredient to be sold throughout the EU. Curcumin C3 Reduct comprises curcuminoid metabolites known as tetrahydrocurcuminoids (THCs), which the company says are better metabolized in the body and thus more bioavailable compared to standard curcuminoids.

Notably, said Sabinsa in a press release, “This may well be the first time a metabolite of a nutrient has been approved as a Novel Food.”

According to the company, curcuminoids, which are the more common ingredient form found in the turmeric market, may have limited bioavailability, preventing full realization of health benefits. By comparison, it says, “C3 Reduct overcomes the bioavailability limitation of the parent curcuminoids in the most functional way.” As the reduced form of curcuminoids, C3 Reduct’s THCs “metabolize readily” and “confer essentially the same benefits of the parent curcuminoids…”

Among its benefits, C3 Reduct is a potent antioxidant, “superior even to curcumin itself in this respect,” the company says. It also offers anti-inflammatory and colonic health benefits.

“Gut resident bacteria also metabolize curcumin to THC, thus explaining many of the benefits that are ascribable to curcuminoids,” said Dr. Muhammed Majeed, founder and chairman of Sami-Sabinsa Group, in a press release. “The benefits are comprehensively described in a recent monograph Sabinsa has published. Incidentally, C3 Reduct is a fitting solution to the perceived limited systemic bioavailability of curcumin.”