Roquette America, Geneva, Ill., obtained generally recognized as safe (GRAS) designation for its microalgae-based lipid food ingredient. It also announced a strategic partnership with Oakville, Ontario-based Continental Ingredients Canada, effective in April, to build a global platform for functional ingredients.

Los Angeles-based Roll Global’s Pom Wonderful brand announced the official launch of its Industrial Pomegranate Partnership Program, which deploys food scientists from the Pom Innovation & Tech Center to help interested companies develop new and innovative pomegranate-based products. The Pom industrial team will help its corporate partners use the following seven different Pom ingredients to develop new products and flavors: 100 percent juice concentrate, Pomx extract powder, Pomx extract liquid, juice concentrate powder, juice-infused arils, freeze-dried arils, and Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) arils.

Kyowa Hakko U.S.A. Inc., the New York-based subsidiary of Kyowa Hakko Bio Co. Ltd., announced that it has completed GRAS self-affirmation for the amino acid L-Ornithine. The ingredient is used to build muscle by stimulating protein synthesis through the enhancement of growth hormone secretion and to assist weight loss by increasing the basal metabolism, the company says. It also has the ability to enhance immunity and liver function and combat fatigue, it adds.

Fona International, Geneva, Ill., named Mark A. Duffy as its new executive vice president and chief revenue officer. Duffy will lead Fona’s Business Unit, Technology & Innovation, and Sales teams, aligning the company’s resources to best support customer needs while building mutually beneficial partnerships focused on growth.

Firmenich, Plainsboro, N.J., celebrated the inauguration of its new state-of-the-art encapsulation facility Oct. 25 at Karawang International Industrial City near Jakarta, Indonesia. The facility is dedicated to the production of the company’s proprietary flavor encapsulation technology, Durarome, and represents an initial investment of $30 million.

Kancor North America, a subsidiary of Kancor Ingredients, officially opened its offices in Morristown, N.J. Kancor North America is a global natural ingredients manufacturer serving the flavor and fragrance, food and beverage, and personal care industries.

Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc. began operating its corn wet mill ethanol plant in Fort Dodge, Iowa. When full production capacity is reached, the plant will consume 150,000 bushels of corn a day and turn out five products including dextrose, ethanol and SweetBran feed for cattle, the company says.

 ChromaDex Corp., Irvine, Calif., announced the results of a cross-over clinical evaluation of its Purenergy caffeine alternative — a patented co-crystal ingredient composed of caffeine and ChromaDex’s pTeroPure pterostilbene, a potent antioxidant found in blueberries. Based on the clinical evaluation, Purenergy provides formulators of energy products the ability to reduce the total amount of caffeine in their products by as much as 50 percent without sacrificing consumers’ expectations from such products. The study was conducted by scientists from Miami Research Associates in Miami.