Korea’s leading food maker CJ CheilJedang said Monday that an herbal probiotic found in Korea’s traditional cabbage dish kimchi has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Lactobacillus plantarum CJLP133 is now recognized as a new dietary ingredient by the FDA. It joins a handful of Korean ingredients already approved by the U.S. regulator including cynanchum wilfordii, ecklonia cava, black ginseng and bio-germanium.

“The approval of CJLP133 marks a landmark recognition of Korea’s traditional fermented dish kimchi and its probiotic properties by the U.S. FDA, a world-renowned food regulator,” said Han Jung-yup, director of CJ CheilJedang’s health marketing department.

CJ discovered the probiotic after spending seven years analyzing some 3,500 lactobacillus varieties found in kimchi to single out a particular lactobacillus that was proven to be effective in treating atopic dermatitis.

Having passed the FDA’s stringent qualification standards, Lactobacillus plantarum CJLP133 can now be sold, marketed and used as a food additive in the U.S., the firm said.

CJ CheilJedang, which has been exporting the probiotic to China since last September and to Japan since February, said it is in the process of finding new sales partners in North America and Europe.

It has also applied for patents for CJLP133 in Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore, with related processes currently underway in the U.S.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)