COGNIS ADDS SOUTH AFRICAN FLAVOUR TO PLANTALIN™ RANGE

Cognis Nutrition & Health has added two new products to its Plantalin™ range of water-soluble extracts: Rooibos and Honeybush. Both offer the same excellent quality, solubility and versatility as the original seven Plantalin™ extracts launched earlier this year. Rooibos (Afrikaans for 'red bush' and pronounced 'roy-boss') and Honeybush originate from South Africa where they have been popular as health drinks for many years - Rooibos tea has even been called South Africa's 'national drink'. They are now becoming increasingly widely-accepted as hot beverages in Europe and the USA. Indeed, sales of Rooibos tea are reported to have risen sharply since it featured prominently in the best-selling novel 'The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency' by Alexander McCall-Smith! In addition to better-established products such as green tea, Cognis now offers customers - and their consumers - something new and different. While Rooibos and Honeybush are big in their native South Africa, they are still relatively uncommon as ingredients in Europe - but Cognis believes they have considerable potential. Iced tea and 'new age' beverages are popular in the ready-to-drink market, with many of them positioned as 'healthy' drinks. Rooibos and honeybush contain high levels of antioxidants, but very little tannin and no caffeine at all - offering manufacturers a convenient way to genuinely increase the health-appeal of their products. These two new Plantalin™ extracts are ideal for applications such as iced tea, fruit-based beverages and flavoured water as well as for a variety of concepts - relaxation, anti-ageing, cold-relief or digestive-aid, for example. Their introduction brings the Plantalin™ range to nine:- Aloe vera, Ginseng, Passion flower, Guarana, Lemon balm, Green tea, Green tea low caffeine, Rooibos and Honeybush. For further information on Plantalin™ e-mail functional.food@cognis.com, telephone +49 730313 326, or fax +49 730313 287.