BASF to co-sponsor symposium showcasing new conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) research in human and animal nutrition

Florham Park, NJ, August 16, 2012 -- The world’s top researchers in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) will present their newest findings on this important nutrient for both humans and animals on August 21 from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. during the prestigious American Chemical Society national conference at the Loews Hotel in Philadelphia, PA, in Commonwealth B, second floor.

CLA is a fatty acid derived from natural safflower oil and is known for a range of health benefits, namely optimizing body composition in humans and restoring CLA in cows to levels present as if they were pasture-fed.

The symposium co-sponsored by BASF, “CLA: A Naturally-Occurring, Anti-Obesity, Anti-Inflammatory Fatty Acid,” is being held in honor of Michael W. Pariza, Ph.D., widely recognized as the founder of the modern field of CLA research. The anti-cancer properties of CLA, and many of the other known biological activities of CLA were discovered in his laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in the laboratory of his collaborator, Mark Cook, Ph.D.

“It is most gratifying to see the emerging clinical research on the positive effects of CLA in humans, for example reducing body fat while maintaining lean muscle, enhancing the immune system, and other potential benefits,” Pariza said. “Important applications of CLA in animal agriculture include improving the vitality of dairy cows, and potentially reducing the need for antibiotics in poultry.  This is an exciting time for CLA research.”

Emeritus Professor of Food Science and Emeritus Director of the university’s Food Research Institute, Pariza has received numerous academic honors and awards. The symposium is named in his honor as recipient of the 2011 Kenneth A. Spencer Award. Attendees are also invited to join Pariza and fellow speakers at a reception and banquet following the symposium at the nearby Penn’s View Hotel (a limited numbers of tickets for the banquet are available at the Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry table at the Loews Hotel).

For the human nutrition market, BASF Nutrition & Health supplies Tonalin^®, the leading ingredient brand of CLA for foods, beverages and dietary supplements. For the animal nutrition market, BASF supplies Lutrell^® and Lutalin^® CLA for livestock, of which Lutalin CLA is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in fattening pigs while  approval for dairy cows is imminent.

“BASF is proud to co-sponsor this first event of its kind in the science of CLA and we congratulate Dr. Pariza, his colleagues and CLA researchers worldwide on their outstanding work,” said Samy Jandali, Vice President, Nutrition & Health, BASF Corporation, North America. “Through their CLA studies, these scientific leaders are helping to make fantastic strides in fighting obesity and, improving overall human and animal vitality, so we can all eat and live a little better.”

Jandali added that the symposium fits perfectly with this year’s ACS theme, “Materials for Health and Medicine.”

FDA team leader to moderate

Moderating the CLA symposium is the FDA’s Lauren Jackson, Research Food Technologist and Team Leader, Division of Food Processing Science and Technology, Institute for Food Safety and Health.

CLA symposium presentations include:

• “Synthesis of CLA isomers and their effect on milk fat production” by Dale Bauman, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
•  “CLA and its effect on dairy cow fertility with emphasis on low level inflammatory processes” by Giuseppe Bertoni, Paolo Grossi, Erminio Trevisi, Istituto di Zootecnica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy.
• “Isomers of conjugated linoleic acid as important nutrients in the dairy cow” by Kevin Shingfield, MTT Agrifood Research, Jokioinen, Hame, Finland.
• “CLA's role in biochemical processes” by Yeonhwa Park,  Yooheon Park, Jun Ho Kim, Jonggun Kim, Heeseok Lee, Department  of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.
• “Dietary CLA reduces clinical signs of acute and chronic inflammatory disease” by Mark Cook, Animal Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.
• “CLA in obesity” by Leah Whigham, USDAARS Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, ND.
• “CLA in cardiovascular disease” by Robert Nicolosi, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut-Storrs,Storrs, CT.
• “Perspectives on CLA” by Mike Pariza, Department of Food Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.

The symposium is also sponsored by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the ACS’s Agricultural and Food Chemistry and Agrochemicals Divisions, and ACS Kansas City Section.

For press photos, please click on the following link:
http://www.basf.us/pressphotos/08-16-12_MichaelPariza.jpg.    

Suggested caption: Michael W. Pariza, Ph.D., widely recognized as the founder of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) research, will present at the American Chemical Society symposium co-sponsored by BASF Nutrition & Health.

About Tonalin^® CLA for humans

BASF’s Tonalin^® is the most clinically tested CLA brand, having been used in the majority of human trials on body composition. Tonalin^® CLA is derived from safflowers using a proprietary process to create the highest quality of commercially available CLA. A naturally sourced product, it comes in several forms, such as oil and water-dispersible powder, making it suitable for applications in food, beverages and dietary supplements. Potential food applications include milk and flavored milk, yogurt products, fruit juice products, soy milk beverages, and meal replacement beverages and bars. Tonalin^® CLA is an exclusively licensed product of BASF Personal Care and Nutrition GmbH. For more information about Tonalin^® CLA, visit www.tonalin.com.

About Lutrell® and Lutalin® CLA for animals

Over the last 50 years, levels of CLA, a form of linoleic acid, have declined  considerably in milk and meat of cows because they are no longer raised on pasture. There they would produce various iso-forms of CLA and some of them cause reduction in milk fat. So this is happening naturally when cows are on pasture.  With the common confined husbandry conditions of cows today, only 20 percent of the CLA is produced compared to the days when cows were on pasture. Supplementing BASF’s Lutrell^® CLA to diets of confined cows adjusts the milk fat content to former pasture levels and thereby takes the strain off the lipid metabolism, which can be linked to the positive effects seen on cow vitality.

Lutalin^® from BASF is a feed additive approved for the use in swine in the U.S. It can be used to improve the fat quality of the carcass. For more information, visit www.animal-nutrition.basf.com.

About Nutrition & Health

BASF’s Nutrition & Health division develops, produces and markets a comprehensive range of products and services for the human and animal nutrition, pharmaceutical as well as flavor and fragrance industries. The division addresses customer needs and enhances consumers’ well-being and quality of life. Nutrition & Health provides the pharmaceutical industry with active ingredients such as caffeine and ibuprofen, as well as excipients and customized synthesis services. The division produces aroma ingredients such as citral and geraniol for the flavor and fragrance industry. Important human nutrition products are vitamins and carotenoids, plant sterols, emulsifiers and omega-3 fatty acids. Its feed additives such as vitamins, carotenoids and enzymes make Nutrition & Health a worldwide leader for the animal nutrition market.

BASF – The Chemical Company

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 16,000 employees in North America, and had sales of $20 billion in 2011. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.us.

 

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success, social responsibility and environmental protection. Through science and innovation we enable our customers in almost all industries to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and system solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring healthy food and nutrition and helping to improve the quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF posted sales of about €73.5 billion in 2011 and had more than 111,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

P-12-158