Next big Antioxidant that Pink Stuff in Salmon?

You know that pink color that salmon has that you know must come from somewhere other than the salmon itself? That color enhancer is a pigment called Astaxanthin. But Astaxanthin has another interesting property that might make it the next darling in cosmeceuticals: according to a CosmeticsDesign-Europe release (7/2/08), Astaxanthin "is said to have an antioxidant payload 500 times that of vitamin E".

That's why the announcement that "Israeli firm Algatechnologies has won European Union Novel Foods approval for its patented version (called AstaPure) of the antioxidant astaxanthin, and plans to take the ingredient into new European markets" is big news for beauty--particularly because while Astaxanthin has been available in supplement form, it's now received approval for cosmeceutical application.

Astaxanthin is an algae-derived carotenoid (lutein is a more well-know carotenoid) and can also be found in the recently launched SunPill in the US--a sun defense supplement similar to Heliocare.

The CosmeticsDesign-Europe article goes on to say:

While no health claims can yet be made in regard to the ingredient, Algatechnologies said applications would be submitted under the EU nutrition and health claims regulation by year's end.

posted by skintoxicated

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