Indena confirms GRAS status of Opextan

Indena has announced that its olive fruit extract Opextan obtained self-affirmed GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status for use as food ingredient in a number of food categories including bakery products, beverages and beverage bases, chewing gums, coffee and tea, dietary product analogs, frozen dairy desserts and mixes, milk products, processed fruits and fruit juices, and processed vegetables and vegetable fruits, at levels up to 1,062 mg per person per day.

Opextan is a non-caloric standardised olive extract from the olive pulp of a specific Italian variety. It is characterised, according to Indena, by a unique bouquet of olive polyphenols and among other polyphenols (hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, isoacteoside, verbascoside) that, says the company, has been shown to be the most potent antioxidant from the olive tree, noting that strong evidence in support of the safety of Opextan derives from the long history of safe consumption of olives and olive oil as a human food.

The acronym GRAS stands for Generally Recognized As Safe. GRAS is a certification system for food safety unique to the United States. Substances affirmed as GRAS are widely recognised, not only in the United States but also internationally, as food or food ingredients that have been certified safe after rigorous review. It is considered desirable for food and food ingredients for sale to be recognized as GRAS substances. Since 1997, a notification system under which manufacturers notify the FDA of their self-affirmed GRAS declarations has been implemented.