Canadian firm cracks code for viable immune health ingredient from egg yolks
IGY antibody proteins have been known to be resident in chicken egg yolks for a long time said IGY Life Sciences CEO Terry Dyck. The proteins are also known for wide ranging immune health supporting effects. Dyck said because these proteins have been a natural part of the human diet and have broad antibacterial effects they sidestep some of the issues that surround traditional pharmaceutical antibiotic treatments such as development of drug resistant bacterial strains.
The problem up to fairly recently has been that it was difficult to extract these proteins from the hundreds of proteins in the egg yolk. Therefore, Dyck said early product developers offered powered egg yolk ingredients that had problems with smell, formulation flexibility, potency and shelf life.
Solving smell, formulation issues
“Up to this time you could almost think of the traditional IGY that’s been in the marketplace as the old dial phone analog kind of technology that was providing about 2% purity,” Dyck said.
“We have made the leap to the high end, digital smart phone technology by perfecting have perfected the extraction technology that gets us 50% up to 90% purity,” he added.
Dyck’s firm is based in Thunder Bay, ON, with a 10,000 square foot extraction facility located in Alberta. The company claims its proprietary and patented extraction technology is environmentally friendly and the leftovers — the remains of the egg yolk — are still available for use as a food ingredient.
The company is offering the ingredient on a wholesale basis and for development partnerships. A range of specfic IGY antibody proteins are being investigated for future pharmaceutical applications, Dyck said.
In the meantime, IGY has some finished dietary supplements on the market, including one aimed at sports nutrition with another targeting the decline of immune system performance that comes with aging.
For more on Dyck’s company and the ingredient, watch the full interview.
