KAILUA-KONA, Hi.Three natural algae astaxanthin manufacturersFuji Chemical Industry Co Ltd., Algatechnologies Ltd. and Cyanotech Corporationhave created the supplement industry trade organization Natural Algae Astaxanthin Association (NAXA). The organization hopes to educate the public and industry on the differences between astaxanthin sources.

With the recent introduction of synthetic astaxanthin made from petrochemicals, which is being marketed as nature identical, it has become very important for the astaxanthin producers who have developed the market over the last decade to point out how different the various sources are," said Oran Ayalon, Ph.D., director of R&D at Algatechnologies. There are tremendous differences in terms of effectiveness between the different sources." 

The association plans to add more members in the near future. Together, the companies plan to improve awareness of the difference between natural and synthetic astaxanthin sources.

"Extensive, long-range safety studies should be conducted with synthetic astaxanthin in humans before it is released on the market.  In the meantime, natural algae astaxanthin has been on the market for over 15 years with absolutely no documented safety concern," said Gerald Cysewski, Ph.D., founder and chief scientific officer of Cyanotech. 

Learn more about carotenoids such as astaxanthin in the INSIDER feature, "CarotenoidsA Cornucopia of Colorants."