The Japanese company Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation has received GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe). certification for CoQ10 as an ingredient for use in foods and beverages in the US market.

The company has been producing CoQ10 - or Coenzyme Q10 - for around 25 years, and is already supplying it to the food and beverage industries in Japan.

The firm now hopes to expand its reach into the US market, where the antioxidant is still primarily used in dietary supplements, although it has also started to creep into foods and drinks.

Asahi Kasei has self-affirmed the GRAS status of its ingredient, following an analysis of safety and quality data by an independent panel of scientists. The firm said its CoQ10 is manufactured under pharmaceutical GMP conditions, is free of animal materials, and is also certified as Kosher.

CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant, which plays a vital role in the production of chemical energy in mitochondria - the 'power plants' of the cell - by participating in the production of adenosince triphosphate (ATP), the body's co-called 'energy currency'.

It has been studied for its role in cognitive health, heart health, and anti-ageing (in oral and topical formulations).

Historically, the CoQ10 market has been dominated by four Japanese players with the capacity to supply multi-ton quantities of the ingredient, three of which produce

CoQ10 through a fermentation process, with one through organic synthesis.