Hadley, MA—American River Nutrition (ARN) has announced that its GG-Gold brand has received self-affirmed GRAS status.

GG-Gold is an ingredient containing geranylgeraniol, an endogenous plant-based nutrient responsible for the synthesis of chlorophylls, carotenoids, and vitamins E and K. In humans, the press release states that it is useful for the synthesis of CoQ10, vitamin K2 MK-4, and skeletal muscle proteins. Like CoQ10, geranylgeraniol decreases with age, as well as with statin use.

A press release explains that the status was obtained through the assessment of an safety dossier by an independent panel of qualified experts, convened by scientific & regulatory consulting firm AIBMR Life Sciences. The review included an analysis of the manufacturing process, nutrition profile, and a critical evaluation of published research studies and toxicological data. The panel unanimously concluded that GG-Gold meets all regulatory and safety requirements to be deemed GRAS, making the product available for use in food and beverages at servings of up to 250mg.

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Speaking on the commercial application of the product, ARN’s Founder and President Dr. Barrie Tan stated: “GG-Gold rides on our best-in-class tocotrienol product, DeltaGold, as both are derived from the annatto plant. American River Nutrition is the first company in the world to produce the critical GG nutrient commercially, which we manufacture in our state-of-art facility in Massachusetts. The self-affirmed GRAS establishes the safety of this truly remarkable compound unassumingly utilized by our body to produce the CoQ10 and MK-4 consumers so heartily embrace.

“Considering the essential nature of this compound, we see the application of GG-Gold in a broad array of healthy aging protocols, including utilization in functional foods and beverages,” Dr. Tan continued. “We have engaged and plan to continue research in the cardiovascular health and anti-aging platforms, and are exceedingly excited about GG because we are speaking the ‘nutrient language’ of the body to invigorate health.”