TSI Group has received regulatory approval from Korea to market myHMB as a functional ingredient.
The approval enables dietary supplements and functional foods made with myHMB to make a health claim on their labels about improving exercise performance.
myHMB is currently the only HMB that can be sold in Korea, where it is distributed exclusively by Jupiter International.
Backed by an extensive science and research dossier, myHMB is trusted in other parts of the world for its muscle health, sports nutrition and active nutrition benefits. Among those benefits, it has been shown to help increase exercise endurance by increasing maximal oxygen consumption and by lengthening the time to the onset of blood lactate accumulation.
Earning myHMB’s approval as a functional ingredient was a rigorous and lengthy process. The Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) required extensive safety and efficacy data as well as detailed information about TSI’s manufacturing processes.
“Jupiter International was instrumental in this process,” said TSI Group President Larry Kolb, who was highly complimentary of the collaboration between TSI and Jupiter International.
“MFDS made a lot of requests,” concurred Jupiter International Team Leader, Strategy and Business Development David Kim. “It would have been difficult to get this approval without TSI’s active support and their long-standing trust in our team.”
Korea’s relatively new sport nutrition category
“Korea’s trending interest in sports nutrition makes this the right time to introduce consumers to the many benefits of myHMB as a functional ingredient,” said Kolb.
Kim added: “In the Korean health and functional food market, sports nutrition is in the initial stages. For the moment, only a few ingredients are approved to make health claims of sports performance and improvement of sports fatigue in Korea, and their sales volume is not big.”
The products focused on muscle health or energy, such as protein, L-arginine, vitamin B complex, etc. are rapidly growing
- Jupiter International Team Leader, Strategy and Business Development David Kim
In contrast, Kim predicts myHMB has tremendous market potential. “The products focused on muscle health or energy, such as protein, L-arginine, vitamin B complex, etc. are rapidly growing. In addition, the end consumers’ interest in sports nutrition is growing and diversifying. We believe myHMB can satisfy the various demands of end consumers, especially since it is a very effective solution for muscle health as well as sports performance. It is also a versatile ingredient with multiple other benefits, such as helping to improve body composition.”
Impact on Korea’s ageing population
Kolb and Kim anticipate that consumer acceptance of myHMB will extend into the active ageing market.
Nearly 20% of Koreans are 65 years old or older.
“Korea has one of Asia’s biggest ageing populations, with seniors accounting for a very high percentage of health and functional food product sales. The size of this population group is growing, and the money they are investing into healthy ageing is also increasing,” explained Kim. “This category is one of Korea’s more important market sectors.”
Nearly 20% of Koreans are 65 years old or older
Already, older consumers in this market recognise the importance of muscle, bone and joint health. “This can be verified by the growth of protein products targeting senior citizens,” Kim added.
“myHMB will help satisfy the needs of Korea’s ageing population very well,” said Kolb. “As demand increases for proven, science-backed ingredients that support muscle health in sports nutrition, active lifestyles and healthy ageing consumer demographics, we look forward to working with our customers on product solutions and innovative delivery systems that meet consumers’ needs.”
Kolb concluded: “TSI is putting a lot of energy into the Asia Pacific region because myHMB offers tremendous benefits to these ageing populations as the best ingredient to attenuate age-related muscle loss. We see a bright future for myHMB as these regulatory approvals continue to go through.”