Cargill to Build World's First Natural Glucosamine Plant in Iowa

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Privately owned Cargill Incorporated (Minneapolis, Minnesota) has chosen their Iowa Bioprocessing Center in Eddyville, Iowa as the site for world's first natural glucosamine manufacturing plant. The new plant will produce Regenasure glucosamine hydrochloride, the only glucosamine product that does not come from shellfish, which causes allergic reactions in some people. Cargill has developed a proprietary process for manufacturing a cost-effective and consistently high-quality supply of glucosamine using naturally occurring sources such as corn.

When first announced in March 2002, the project was expected to cost $15 million but it grew to $30 million upon plan revisions. The new building is expected to cost $4 million, with machinery and equipment to outfit the facility accounting for the $26 million project balance. The Regenasure plant will meet the Food and Drug Administration's Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) guidelines and will be an ISO-9000 (International Organization for Standardization) registered facility when in it comes online in late 2003.

Treatment with a glucosamine product has been shown in many independent studies to improve joint flexibility and decrease osteoarthritis pain. Theoretically, glucosamine has a mild anti-inflammatory effect and stimulates the chondrocytes of cartilage to produce collagen and protoglycans. These keep the joints healthy. The U. S. National Institutes of Health is currently conducting a multi-year clinical trial designed to test and validate the effectiveness of glucosamine in reducing pain and improving function in patients with knee osteoarthritis.