These days, the favorite magazine around Kemin Foods’ offices is a breezy little item named Optometry – The Journal of the American Optometric Association. Why? Because a recent issue of that periodical reported on a research study that just might translate into another boost in sales for Kemin’s core product, lutein.

Kemin Foods, a Des Moines unit of Kemin Worldwide, ships marigold blossoms here from exotic locales such as Thailand, then extracts lutein (loo-teen), an antioxidant that has made its way into many products in recent years.

Lutein has been considered useful in reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration in the human eye, when included at a sufficient level in the diet. The recent study, involving patients from the North Chicago VA Medical Center in Illinois, goes a step further. Lead investigator Dr. Stuart Richer said in a press release, “Our findings show that AMD symptoms may be reversed through purified lutein supplementation or a supplement mix of lutein and other antioxidants.”

“This is a pivotal study,” said Zoraida DeFreitas, director of research and development for Kemin Foods. “It’s the first time that a well-done, controlled trial has shown that people with AMD can experience improvements in sensitivity, glare recovery (the return of clear vision after a bright flash of light) and visual acuity.”

One in eight Americans over the age of 60 suffers from AMD, by some estimates. Such a statistic translates into a huge market for lutein supplements or foods with added lutein.

“We’ve seen increased interest in the last two weeks from some blue-chip food brands,” said Craig Maltby, the company’s manager of communications. “A number of customers have asked for copies of the study.”

Lutein already has been added to many food products with the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For example, you can buy cereal, crackers, carbonated beverages, salad dressing, yogurt, vegetable juice, fruit snacks and soup that contain Kemin’s patented FloraGLO lutein. Those products provide 2 milligrams of lutein or less per serving. In the Chicago study, subjects received 10 milligrams per day for a year.

“The typical American diet provides 1-2 milligrams of lutein per day. If you follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture food pyramid, you might get up to 4 milligrams,” DeFreitas said. “There’s still room for supplementation.” According to DeFreitas, research has found no safety concerns related to high levels of lutein consumption.

The human body can’t synthesize lutein, so it has to come from food. You could get all the lutein you need by eating a couple of bowls of spinach every day, but most of us aren’t likely to do that. Kemin hopes that more and more people will choose to buy lutein-added foods or lutein-specific supplements.

Although lutein is a natural substance, extracting it from plants requires specialized techniques. Kemin holds patents on those methods, placing it in control of the lutein market. That market has increased in recent years, helping to increase Kemin Foods’ payroll to about 100 employees. Five years ago, the unit employed about 20 people.

“Lutein made a huge jump in public awareness when Centrum began advertising it as an ingredient in its vitamins,” DeFreitas said. “When I joined Kemin [five years ago], a marketing survey showed that only 5 percent of American consumers had heard of lutein. Now the same survey shows awareness at more than 60 percent.”