4 Mar 2010 --- Valensa International announced that it has launched a new premium krill oil ingredient that boosts natural astaxanthin levels found in krill oil in a product that offers a guaranteed shelf-life of two years. Called Deep Ocean Krill, the new ingredient employs Aker BioMarine's Superba Krill Oil as a base and is fortified with Valensa's ultra-stable Zanthin Natural Astaxanthin to increase astaxanthin levels to create a premium krill oil. Deep Ocean Krill will also feature Valensa's proprietary botanical O2B Peroxidation Blocker technology to provide the most shelf-stable krill-based ingredient on the market today. The new ingredient is targeted toward marketers of dietary supplements worldwide who want to offer consumers high-quality Omega-3 functionality in much smaller supplement size, without the drawbacks associated with fish oil supplements. Traditionally a company that specializes in botanical ingredients, Deep Ocean Krill is Valensa's first foray into non-plant ingredients while maintaining a position that emphasizes ecology and sustainability.

According to Dr. Rudi E. Moerck, President & CEO of Valensa, the health benefits and market opportunity for krill oil led Valensa to enter this market segment. "Krill oil is one of the hottest ingredients on the nutritional market scene today, as it provides the benefits of EPA and DHA at a lower dosage level than fish oil," he said. "Even though we have traditionally been a botanical-based company, we looked at Aker BioMarine Superba krill oil and realized that it meets our goals for sustainably sourced raw materials and that we had the technology and experience to add to the functionality of existing krill oil ingredients in the marketplace. We have added our Zanthin brand astaxanthin ingredient to boost the naturally occurring astaxanthin found in krill, some of which is typically lost during processing. Additionally, we have brought our experience in stabilizing natural botanical oils to the subject of krill oil, to increase the shelf-life stability of all components of Deep Ocean Krill. While Valensa is not the first company to add astaxanthin to krill oil, our know-how and formulation experience with natural stabilizers has led to the most stable krill oil product on the market today. We think that this combination results in an ingredient that consumers wanting a premium krill oil supplement will respond to positively and market with confidence," he added.

Positioning krill as a supplement

Deep Ocean Krill starts with Superba krill oil from Aker BioMarine eco-harvested from pure Antarctic waters. Superba krill oil contains eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA) phospholipids which have published clinical trials showing functionality supporting human health in a broad range of areas. Unlike fish oil, the Omega-3 fatty acids in krill oil are absorbed and carried to the body's cells in phospholipid form - enabling far greater bioavailability. Studies show that human cells will readily absorb 95-98% of phospholipids, a performance not attainable by fish oil fatty acids. This makes krill oil significantly more bioavailable, offering health benefits at lower dosages. From a consumer acceptance standpoint, krill oil should be preferred - "burp-back" is eliminated and the potency of the krill oil ingredient will allow much a much lower "pill burden." Moerck pointed out that from a functional point of view, adding astaxanthin to krill oil makes sense. Since astaxanthin is incorporated into cell membranes that also contain DHA phospholipids, the close proximity of astaxanthin and DHA phospholipids in membranes assures the biofunctionality and resilience of these membranes.

Valensa combines krill oil with astaxanthin derived from farmed freshwater algae extracted via a clean solvent-free process. It then adds its proprietary, natural botanical O2B Peroxidation Blocker technology to create a product with greater stability. As a result, the Deep Ocean Krill formulation provides effective Omega-3 and astaxanthin health, antioxidant protection and stability in a small dose. Deep Ocean Krill will contain 1.5mg of astaxanthin per gram of oil and custom formulations with up to 12mg of Astaxanthin per gram of oil will be available. Valensa recommends a standard Deep Ocean Krill dosage of 300 mg / day and 600mg / day for cardiovascular health support.

A sustainable Omega-3 solution

Krill oil is an extract of the Antarctic deepwater marine crustacean species Euphausia superba. Krill represents the planet's most abundant and sustainable marine biomass, found in sea banks that may extend over several thousand square kilometers. Antarctic krill makes up an estimated biomass of over 500 million tons - more than the mass of all living things combined. To grow, krill consume phytoplankton (algae), which is converted to oil and protein. The natural red color of krill comes from the abundance of astaxanthin found in this algae phytoplankton. The harvest of krill is well below conservative international catch guidelines - less than 0.03% of krill is harvested each year. Aker BioMarine only sources krill from the Antarctic, where krill is most abundant. Aker BioMarine and the WWF-Norway (World Wide Fund for Nature, known as the World Wildlife Fund in the United States and Canada) have a formal cooperation agreement in place which promotes the sustainable harvesting of krill, combats illegal fishing and provides accountability and traceability of fishery products.