As part of Nutraceuticals World’s 2026 State of the Industry review, Todd Spear, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Protein Research, reviews breakthrough ingredient innovation despite ongoing regulatory and trade uncertainty. He points to advances in precision fermentation, emerging gut health solutions, and postbiotic science as signs of a vibrant, evolving marketplace refocused on new product development.

On the regulatory front, I see potential trouble ahead for self-affirmed GRAS. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has indicated he feels the system is broken and it’s high on his list of things to change. Depending on what he does, it could be a big issue for both products with Supplement Facts Panels and Nutrition Facts Panels. I encourage you to engage with our industry trade associations on the topic and write to your members of Congress.

On the science and marketing front, there are some fantastic new ingredients currently on the market. I remain bullish on the future of precision fermentation. Helaina’s Effera ingredient keeps getting better with more data, and proteins made through fermentation like beta-lactoglobulin from Perfect Day and newcomer Vivici are achieving price parity with whey proteins. Gnosis by Lessafre is now offering a pure salidroside (one of the two primary phenols in Rhodiola) from precision fermentation as well. I expect to see even more ingredients produced in this way over the next few years.

Creatine, magnesium, hydration, greens, mushrooms, and cognitive markets continue to expand. And of course, there is the entire GLP-1 support market, but that’s a whole other article.

What I see as the “next big thing” is gut health, which is partly driven by GLP-1 drugs, but more broadly by consumer understanding of the importance of gut health. While that’s not exactly new, the market is changing.

For example, there’s been a rapid expansion of prebiotic fibers. At both IFT and SupplySide Global there were a ton of prebiotic fibers — RS2 resistant starches like Solnul and green banana starch, partially hydrolyzed guar gums (PHGGs) like Sunfiber, and a Carob Fiber. POM has an interesting pomegranate fiber made from the rind of the fruit. The list goes on; it’s not just inulin and FOS anymore. Further, many of these fibers are upcycled from waste streams and have a great sustainability story to go with their health benefits.

Another ingredient that I’m seeing pop into the gut health story is colostrum. I expect to see the demand and cost of colostrum increase over the next few years, just like proteins and collagen.

For postbiotics, I love NutraShure’s BioMend. If you have not tried it, you need to. The effects are noticeable in days, and it benefits more than just the gut. Butyrate has significant effects in the body, including reducing inflammation, strengthening the gastrointestinal barrier, and cognitive benefits through the gut-brain axis.

Consumers are just starting to learn about the benefits of butyrate and are looking for ingredients to support endogenous butyrate production as well as bioavailable forms of butyrate. BioMend falls into the latter category.

Here are a couple of other interesting ingredients I came across at SSG this year. Kingdomway has new water-dispersible curcumin nanocrystals. The nanocrystals disperse instantly in water. It’s quite impressive to see. While not new to the market, See Nutrition’s Axivite was new to me. Axivite is phenylcapsaicin, a more bioavailable pepper extract. Like its competitors, it has thermogenic effects, and is primarily used as a fat burner, but it can also strengthen tight junctions, thereby improving gut health. That’s a great benefit for athletes and dieters who are both notorious for having digestive dysregulation. On top of the gut health benefits, it may improve athletic performance. That’s a lot of different benefits from a single ingredient.

Lastly, the ingredient that may not be on your radar but should be is malic acid. At least in part due to the MAHA movement, huge portions of the food industry are switching to natural flavors, which means a switch from synthetic DL-malic acid to natural L-malic acid. That increase in demand could lead to short-term supply issues for malic acid. While we are not seeing it yet, if big players like Walmart follow through on their promise to switch to natural flavors, L-malic demand will increase.

When I look at the past 12 months, which have been rocky for much of the industry, the thing that is most striking is the number of brands that are digging into product development. It feels like there has been more intense, focused product development than at any time in my roughly 25 years in the industry. As a result, I’m really excited to see what happens over the next year. Despite the headwinds, I’m seeing a lot of energy and excitement, and I’m excited for the next year.