Fresno, Calif., 1 April 2009 – Cypress Systems, Inc., announces that its flagship product, SelenoExcell® High Selenium Yeast, received a Letter of No Objection from the Food and Drug Administration, confirming its GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) designation.
This milestone means that using SelenoExcell in selected food categories at a combined level to yield up to 150 microgram per day as selenium is GRAS, and will allow Cypress Systems to begin selling SelenoExcell into the food manufacturing industry. SelenoExcell is the only certified 100% organically bound High Selenium Yeast standardized with the National Cancer Institute, and it has been selected as the sole intervention agent in a series of cancer prevention and health-related trials. SelenoExcell has been also shown in a Gold-Standard clinical trial published in Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) to reduce lung, colon, and prostate cancer incidence by 50 - 63 %. SelenoExcell is unique in that it is a supplement backed by pharmaceutical grade research.
“Receiving a GRAS designation from the FDA is a huge step for our company and SelenoExcell,” says CEO Paul Willis. “It allows us to move beyond our current market in dietary supplements, into the massive food and drink manufacturing industry. Consumers will now potentially be able to get a wide variety of foods, from baked goods to beverages to processed juices and soups, containing SelenoExcell, and reap the many health benefits of this form of selenium.”
This good news comes on the heels of a turnaround in the outcome of the SELECT trial, which was established to test the effects of selenium and vitamin E supplementation on the prevention of prostate cancer. The end result was that the trial utilized the synthetic non-food form selenomethianone and not 100% organically bound High Selenium Yeast. The outcome set the record straight, once and for all, that form DOES make a difference. A number of confirming “Gold Standard” studies are underway utilizing SelenoExcell as the sole intervention agent in helping prevent lung, colon and prostate cancer.
“This is an exciting time for Cypress Systems and SelenoExcell,” says CEO Paul Willis. “We’ve spent many years laying the groundwork, gathering as much scientific backup for this product as possible, and now, together with Mark Whitacre at the helm, we are ready to go to the next level. Our Branding Partners, such as Natrol, GNC, Natural Factors, Country Life, Schiff and others, are vital to our success in providing high quality consumer products that will help put selenium at the forefront in the prevention of certain forms of cancer.”
The company’s commitment to sound science and research, coupled with a staunch vision to help fight cancer with selenium supplementation, creates a powerful platform for initiating change. Standing on top of this platform is COO Mark Whitacre, PhD, who together with Willis, will be leading the charge. Whitacre has played an integral role in building Cypress Systems’ leader position in the selenium ingredient business since 2006, and has been instrumental in successfully helping bring SelenoExcell to market. In a dramatic twist during the 1990s, Whitacre became the highest level executive to turn whistleblower in U.S history. More recently, the three FBI agents involved with the case have publicly referred to Whitacre as a “national hero” for his role in the largest price-fixing case in history. He is also the subject of the upcoming Warner Brothers and Steven Soderbergh-directed feature film, "The Informant" starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, and the Discovery Channel TV documentary, "Undercover" (both to be released during 2009).
Whitacre continues to be an agent for change. For example, he is equally enthusiastic about the future of selenium and SelenoExcell in advancing cancer prevention, and how important nutritional supplements are in disease prevention. “The multi-billion dollar drug industry is one of the most profitable industries in the country, so there’s less incentive for national healthcare to invest in alternative methods towards prevention for diseases like cancer,” says Whitacre. “Our industry needs to join together and equalize this imbalance. Cypress Systems has dedicated many years and resources into Gold Standard research for selenium, which is almost unheard of for a supplement. I am passionate about the prevention of cancer, and we at Cypress will use this "once in a life time" media platform that the upcoming movie creates in order to raise consumer awareness as to the prevention of cancer and the role that a simple ingredient like selenium plays in the prevention of this dreadful disease.”
Cypress Systems, Inc. is a manufacturer of premium food forms of organically bound minerals and nutritional yeast products, which are distributed throughout the global nutraceutical, functional food and animal nutrition markets. CEO/President Paul A. Willis founded Cypress Systems, Inc. in 1995 with the primary goal of developing a specialty fermentation, biotechnology and nutritional yeast company.
Click here to read FLEXNEWS feature on Selenium's Nutritional Role in Preventing Cancer in 'Aftermath' of Contradictory Medical Study