Natural fortification: Biovit supports the move away from synthetic micronutrients

Headquartered in Tenby, UK, Biovit was founded by Ky Wright, a serial entrepreneur with experience within the dairy industry. In setting up Biovit, Wright set himself the goal of convincing the industry to switch from synthetic micronutrients to Biovit’s organic plant-derived nutrients.

“All fortified foods including breakfast cereals, meal replacement shakes, plant-based milks, and more, currently contain synthetic vitamins and minerals,” he explained.

“Although similar, these lab-made, isolated vitamin and mineral analogues are most often structurally and functionally different to the natural versions, being less bioavailable and efficacious.”

“At Biovit, we want to offer a completely natural solution to food companies – especially those that are striving towards organic certification – and expect to see a growth in ‘natural fortification’ across the food industry.”

Nutrient blends extracted from leaves, flowers, roots, and fungi

Wright commissioned independent research that found 77% of consumers are not aware that synthetic micronutrients are added to enhance a food’s nutritional value. In addition, 90% of consumers state that they would prefer natural nutrients to synthetic if given the choice.

Wright said that the creation of Biovit was there to give consumers that choice. The start-up’s product range consists of natural vitamin and mineral blends, extracted from organically certified leaves, flowers, roots, and fungi and then standardised for nutritional content,

In approaching the manufacturing process this way, the blends can then be used to accurately  fortify foods in ways similar to methods used for synthetic multi nutrients.

But while some may scorn at the results of Biovit’s independently commissioned study, findings from a recent JAMA Network study suggests that they may be onto something.

In an analysis of 400,000 healthy adults, scientists from the National Cancer Institute in Maryland found that taking a daily multivitamin did not help people to live any longer and could actually increase the risk of an early death.

Are naturally sourced vitamins and minerals better?

Commenting on the JAMA Network study’s conclusions, Wright said: “We now know that in many cases, synthetic micronutrients are not as effective as the ones that occur naturally in plants, fungi and algae.

In an accompanying commentary on the JAMA study, Dr Neal Barnard from George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, echoed these sentiment. He said: “Considerable evidence now shows that, apart from the aforementioned roles for vitamin supplementation, there is little health rationale for the use of multivitamin supplements.

“Micronutrients come most healthfully from food sources. When supplementation is required, it can often be limited to the micronutrients in question.”

Biovit is now in the midst of conducting a UK-based clinical trial that directly compares synthetic micronutrients with Biovit’s natural micronutrients.

The results are expected in 2025 and, according to Wright, could lead to “radical changes in consumer awareness and acceptance of synthetic nutrients”.

“That’s why our advice to food companies is to switch to natural nutrients now, or risk losing consumer trust.”

Biomedical partnership will develop AI-powered nutrition platform

Conducted in partnership with Swansea University, the 2025 Biovit study will attempt to assess the differences between synthetic and natural nutrients in terms of bioavailability and effectiveness, when consumed in fortified food, such as nutrition shakes.

In signs of gathering momentum, Wright also highlights Biovit’s partnership with biomedical artificial intelligence (AI) developers, Pharmatics, that draws upon data gathered from Swansea University’s research to develop and train an AI-powered nutrition system.

The platform will assess the micronutrient and absorption levels of patients. AI will identify their metabolic type and nutritional requirements, going on to formulate a tailored nutrition-based solution based on their needs.

“Our approach is unique because it combines large-scale scientific evidence with personal health data to deliver highly tailored nutritional interventions,” said Felix Agakov, CEO at Pharmatics.

“Combining evidence from multiple relevant worldwide trials with personal data will create nutrition plans that are safer and more effective than one-size-fits-all approaches and methods that only learn from small datasets from individual clinical trials.”