TOKYO — Ajinomoto Company Inc. and the Kellogg Co. have entered into a global R.&D. alliance agreement to jointly develop products aimed at meeting consumers’ health and nutrition needs. The companies initially plan to focus on developing products that deliver weight-management, sugar-reduction and sodium-reduction benefits.

“The potential for synergy between Kellogg’s strong marketing and product development capabilities combined with Ajinomoto’s excellence in basic and applied research is unique and exciting,” said Masatoshi Ito Ajinomoto, the company’s president and chief executive officer.

Ajinomoto, a manufacturer of consumer foods and other products incorporating technologies, offers capsiate, a substance in a non-pungent chili pepper called CH-19 sweet. The fat-burning effect and metabolism acceleration of capsiate is known to be the same as capsaicin, the pungent substance of chili pepper, but capsiate does not deliver a pungent taste or irritation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in a March 9, 2009, letter said it had no objections to the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status for the use of synthetic dihydrocapsiate to provide capsiate in such food categories as meal replacement and yogurt beverages, tea, juice, soft drinks, non-carbonated water, energy drinks, yogurt, chocolate, oatmeal, chewing gum, mints, breakfast and cereal bars, puddings, sweeteners, snack foods, popcorn, frozen desserts, ready-to-eat meals, ready-to-eat soup and nutritional meals such as Ensure.