Company aims for €220m organic selenium sales in EU
In April 2005, Kentucky, US-based Alltech and other manufacturers of organic selenium feed additives were forced to withdraw their products from sale in the European Union.
Alltech had little choice but to tell customers in the EU that Sel-Plex, its flagship yeast-based organic selenium product, was no longer available.
Faced with disappointment (and demand that never subsided, despite the ban), the company responded by working flat out with the EU’s regulatory authorities to regain the green light for Sel-Plex.
At the time, according to the company, the Commission had already granted a derogation for use of organic selenium for humans.
This decision was largely based on recognition in the scientific community that it was safer than sodium selenite.
Doctor Karl Dawson, an adjunct University of Kentucky professor and Alltech’s director of worldwide research, admitted that the Commission’s decision came as a body blow.
But, with a philosophical nod to the maxim that all publicity is good publicity, he recognisex that anyone who hadn’t heard of organic selenium before the withdrawal now had.
Alltech is planning a blitz of promotion now that the European Commission has granted wider approval for Sel-Plex use.
Submitting the approval dossier to the Commission has cost Alltech around €2.2 million, and Dawson said between €7 million and €11 million was ploughed into research over the last three years, including toxicity and molecular studies.
The company believes it can recoup that investment and generate sales of Sel-Plex above the cost of registration in the EU. Dawson sees potential for about €220 million of sales in the EU — partly because of the dearth of naturally occurring selenium in European soil.
