A natural product from US company Polyphenolics has made the grade as the first grape seed extract to be awarded GenerallyRegarded as Safe (GRAS) from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Polyphenolics, a division of CanandaiguaWine Company, put forward a request for its MegaNaturalR Gold Grape SeedExtract and MegaNaturalR GSKE Grape Pomace Extract - purified, concentrated phenolic/flavonoid compounds - to gain the status for use in fruit juices and fruit flavored beverages.

The FDA gave the endorsement this week, opening the way for the two products to be used as GRAS in fruit flavored beverage mixes and carbonated fruit flavored beverages at a concentration of up to 210 PPM (alone or in combination).

For Polyphenolics, a crucial knock on effect of the new status is that it can starting expanding sales of the product from the domaine of nutraceuticals and dietary supplements into the wider mass market.

"It is a giant step toward expanding the availability of these two products beyond the realm of nutraceuticals and into the mass marketplace," said Anil Shrikhande, president of Polyphenolics.

"The two products are ideal for beverages because they are 100 per cent soluble in water and have excellent long-term stability," he continued.

The extracts from Polyphenolics are produced in Canandaigua Wine Company's California wineries from unfermented grapes, using a solvent-free, water extraction process.