Special edition: Bone & Joint Health
Chondroitin sulfate
A prestigious Cochrane Review (published last year) assessed data from 43 clinical trials including 9,110 people receiving chondroitin sulfate supplements and found that, not only did the supplement produce ‘small to moderate’ benefits for people with osteoarthritis, but the risk of adverse events was also lower than in the control groups.
Despite such scientific support, the chondroitin market has been shrinking, said Weiguo Zhang, President and CEO, Synutra Pure, Ltd.
Synutra Pure has been incredibly active in cleaning up the chondroitin sector, which has been plagued by quality concerns and, more recently, potential adulteration: In 2014, a team of industry and analytical experts convened by Synutra identified an adulterant in chondroitin sulfate as sodium hexametaphosphate, a compound used in Calgon.
Zhang also told us that new adulterants – as of yet unidentified – have been found recently. “In addition to sodium hexametaphosphate and alginic sodium di-ester, a seaweed extract, we have used the CAME and CPC combo to screen out 2 newly found non-CS sulfated materials that masquerade as CS and that are yet to be identified,” he said.
To read more about chondroitin sulfate, please click HERE.
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