With increasing global consumer concerns about industrial pollution affecting food supply and greater scrutiny by regulators of quality standards in the health supplements industry, the onus is on ingredient suppliers and manufacturers of dietary supplements to ensure that all materials and ingredients comply with all regulations.

Davos Life Science (DavosLife) is pleased to offer Naturale³ Tocotrienols that complies with all major international regulatory standards on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and other contaminants in food and health supplements. In its new green field manufacturing facility in Westport Malaysia, DavosLife has invested heavily in the latest advanced technologies in response to POPs: A Global Issue.

Due to their stability and accumulation in the fatty tissues of animals, POPs are chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food chain, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and environment^1,2. The range of POPs include:

• Intentionally produced chemicals currently or once used in agriculture, disease control, manufacturing, or industrial processes. Examples include Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in varying industrial applications, and Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), a pesticide for the control of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
• Unintentionally produced chemicals such as Dioxins resulting from some industrial processes and from combustion, which includes municipal and backyard burning of trash, forest fire and volcanic eruption.
• Another common contaminant, Benzo (a) pyrene (BaP) is the by- product of incomplete combustion of organic items such as wood and gasoline³.

While many of these chemicals have proven benefits in pest and disease control, crop production and industrial uses, they have unforeseen effects on the environment and health. Specific impacts of POPs include cancer, allergies, hypersensitivities, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, reproductive disorders and the disruption of immune system.

Over 95% of human exposure to POPs is resulted from dietary intake and as a result, governments are legally bound under the Stockholm Convention to address these risks⁴. The European Union has established a maximum allowable dioxins and furan level of 0.75 pg/g TEQ (Toxicity Equivalence) in vegetable oils and fats and their by-products. The US Food and Drug Administration has also similar focus on the matter^1,2,4. Similarly countries such as China, Japan, Australia, ASEAN have issued its own regulations on allowable levels of various contaminants too.

Following extensive research and development and technology investment, DavosLife is delighted to share the fruits of our proprietary technology by ensuring our supply of Naturale³ Tocotrienols is safe under the various international legislations. As a testament to our commitment to uphold the highest possible standards with regards to food safety, we have launched our Naturale³ range of Tocotrienols extracts with product assurances to meet the legislation limits. They include, but not exhaustive:

• EU 1259/2011, Dioxins
• EU 208/2005, EC 1881/2006, Benzo(a)pyrene
• EP 7.0 Pesticides
• EU 629/2008, Heavy metals
• Food Chemical Codex, Heavy Metals
• United States USP 36 <561>, Pesticides
• Australia Therapeutic Goods Administration, Pesticides
• China Food Safety National Standard for Maximum levels of contaminants in foods GB 2762-2012, Benzo(a)pyrene
• Japan on Food Sanitation Law and Food Safety.

It is our proactive efforts to participate in the Persistent Organic Pollutants: A Global Issue that impacts our daily lives and future generations. Contact us below if you have any queries regarding compliance with your country’s food safety regulations. We will be able to assist you with technical support and provide independent test certifications as required.

Tocotrienols are often taken in the form of dietary supplements for its health benefits. Recent studies on Tocotrienols consistently show better clinical benefits in cardiovascular, brain, liver & women’s health. Tocotrienols but not α-tocopherol are found to have properties beyond antioxidation including reduction of stroke induced injury, reduction of white matter lesion, chloresterol and triglyceride control and aids in recovery of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease ^{5,6,7,8, 9,10}.

About Davos Life Science

DavosLife, established in 2004 is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK) who is one of the largest oil palm plantation and processing company publicly listed in Malaysia. It researches on the health benefits of palm tocotrienol which is extracted at its dedicated manufacturing facility based on state of the art proprietary technology. It is also vertically integrated with KLK Plantations & KLK Manufacturing Division (KLK Oleo) for its supply of palm tocotrienols.

DavosLife’s tocotrienol is widely recognized by leading international nutraceutical and cosmoceutical companies under the brand name, Naturale³. To explore the benefits and applications of Naturale3. Please visit www.klkoleo.com/davoslife/.

Naturale³ Bio-Enhanced Tocotrienols 50mg softgels are available on-line purchase at www.klkoleo.com/davoslife/estore/

For scientific information, please visit www.tocotrienolresearch.org

All enquiries should be directed to:
Kwee Ying Lau, Executive Director, Davos Life Science
Tel: (603) 7809 8954
Email: info@davoslife.com

References:
1. Persistent Organic Pollutants: A Global Issue, A Global Response. United States Environmental Protection Agency
2. Dioxins and their effects on human health Fact sheet No. 225 dated June 2014. World Health Organization. 3.Benzo(a)pyrene TEACH Chemical summary, United States Environmental Protection Agency.
4. Halbert MK et. Al 2007, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 20 : 506-514
5. Saito Y et. al. 2004. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1031: 368–75
6. Zaiden N et. al. 2010. J Atherosclerosis Thrombosis 4911:1019–1032
7. Wong WY & Brown L 2011. Current Pharmaceutical Design 17: 2206-2214
8. Sen et. al. 2010. J Am Coll Nutr. June 29(3 Suppl): 314S–323S
9. Mangialasche F et. al. 2013. J Intern Med 273: 602–621
10. Fu JY et. al. 2014. Nutrition & Metabolism 2014, 11:5
11. Guidance Notes on Control of Pesticides in traditional Medicines and Health Supplements dated 28 June 2011. www.ASEAN.org