Press Releases
EXPERT PANEL MEETS NEXT WEEK TO CONSIDER USE
OF 'TAGATOSE'- BIOSPHERICS' SWEETENER IN FOODS AND BEVERAGES
CONTACT: Mark Hopkinson 561/ 750-9800 x14
Email: mhopkinson@TransMediagroup.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BELTSVILLE, MD., May 10, 2000 -- Biospherics Incorporated
(NASDAQ/BINC) today said that the Expert Panel deciding whether
Tagatose is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for
use in foods and beverages will meet May 15 in Washington,
DC. GRAS status would permit commercialization of the firm's
full-bulk, low-calorie sweetener for use in foods and beverages
in the US. MD Foods, which licensed these applications of
Biospherics' patented technology, was recently merged with
the Swedish firm, Arla, to form Arla Foods. Arla Foods officials
continue to express confidence that Tagatose will qualify
as GRAS. Biospherics' shareholders will also hold their annual
meeting on May 15.
Biospherics also revealed that in Europe, the evaluation
of Tagatose has been assigned "priority attention"
by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
for consideration during its June 6 to June 15 meeting in
Geneva, Switzerland.
"I am extremely pleased that the meetings we have so looked
forward to are now at hand," said Biospherics CEO, Dr. Gilbert
Levin. "Biospherics' own further studies with Tagatose
lead us to share Arla's confidence that the use of this unique
sweetener in foods and beverages will be given the green light,"
he said.
Arla officials said that the first full-scale production
plant for Tagatose has already been designed and sited.
The company said construction would commence soon after GRAS,
with the product hitting the market about 18 months later.
Biospherics Inc. is a biotechnology research company founded
by Dr. Gilbert Levin who also performed research as part of
NASA's mission to Mars in 1976 where Biospherics technology
helped test soil samples. As a related project, Biospherics
began research on non-fattening sweeteners and, in the 1990's
discovered that Tagatose, a natural sugar found in
certain berries and dairy products, tastes like table sugar
and is low in calories. The Company then invented a "green"
process to make the sweetener economically using whey as the
raw material.
Certain statements contained herein are "forward looking"
statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements include risks
and uncertainties, actual results may differ from those expressed
or implied. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied include, but are
not limited to, those discussed in filings by the Company
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the
filing on Form 8-K made on March 3, 1999.
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