OSAKA, Japan—Canada welcomed Glico Nutrition’s Cluster Dextrin® as one its certified Novel Foods, meaning it meets standards of the Canadian Food Directorate and Health Canada.

Until Cluster Dextrin’s 2002 introduction in Japan, maltodextrins derived from starch were the typical active component of sports drinks and supplements. These carbohydrates could be effective in boosting energy, but in a haphazard way that came with significant downsides.

Cluster Dextrin, also known as highly-branched cyclic dextrin (HBCD), offers a completely new model for sports drink ingredients with the goal of hydrating, enhancing stamina and supporting muscular development. It has a higher molecular weight than maltodextrin, but a narrow weight distribution. Combined with good solubility and near-zero osmotic pressure, ensuring fast gastric emptying, Cluster Dextrin is a rarely-seen dextrin configuration that is easily assimilated and advances to the small intestine in record time.

Made from a proprietary enzyme derivative, Cluster Dextrin, distributed in the United States and Canada by Mitsubishi International Food Ingredients Inc., is a product that can be equally effective before, while engaging in, and during recovery from vigorous exercise. Its biochemical form reins in carbohydrate degradation, entering the bloodstream gradually without precipitating a sudden rise in serum glucose and consequent surge in insulin production. Sports physicians have long advised that maintaining moderate, consistent glucose levels during exercise results in more efficient caloric combustion and sustained stamina. Like a complex engine, the parts of which all work in perfect concert to move it forward, Glico Cluster Dextrin works in ways that are so natural to the human body engaged in vigorous exercise that it ranks with the most perfectly designed adjuncts to athletic activity.

Canada’s adoption of Glico Cluster Dextrin as a Novel Food, along with FDA’s GRAS (generally recognized as safe) and a host of other international certifications, reflects the confidence of those tasked with safeguarding society’s well-being.