Acrylamide-preventing yeast shows potential in Extruded Starchy Food Products

Functional Technologies Corp. reports that efficacy studies conducted on end-user materials, investigating the Company's proprietary acrylamide-preventing (AP) yeast technology in a novel food application that traditionally does not incorporate yeast ingredients as processing aids, have demonstrated significant reduction of asparagine, the main known precursor in the formation of acrylamide.

Moreover, the reduction was achieved with short contact times and decreasing yeast dose concentrations. Acrylamide is a chemical shown to be a mutagen (i.e. carcinogenic), as well as neurologically and reproductively toxic. Functional Technologies previously demonstrated that the ability of its technology to reduce asparagine has been significantly effective in preventing the formation of, and thereby reducing, acrylamide.

Under the simulated commercial conditions defined by the industry third party, the use of Functional Technologies' AP yeast enabled substantial degradation and reduction of asparagine, which was achieved consistently and in a time-efficient manner utilizing conservative inoculation rates, including at relatively low AP yeast concentrations.

At a reduced dose between standard and lowest AP yeast concentrations, asparagine levels were decreased by approximately 85% within 30 minutes, and to near non-detectable levels within 60 minutes. At the lowest dose tested, reductions of 55% and 85% within 30 and 60 minutes, respectively, were observed. In head-to-head comparisons between the Company's AP yeast technology against samples with control or no yeast, which did not show any asparagine reduction in the allotted time period, these results clearly indicated that the AP yeast provided excellent performance in its functionality for acrylamide reduction and prevention.

These results support the claims that relevant processing protocols across a variety of food applications and sectors, including those that do not conventionally employ baker's yeasts as processing aids, have strong indications for the ability to implement and benefit from Functional Technologies' novel AP yeast technologies while minimizing any requirements for changes to existing production protocols, providing the potential for reasonably seamless adoption.

"Our collaborative efforts with leading companies across a variety of food sectors continue to provide us with compelling results like those reported today. These help to substantiate the effectiveness of Functional Technologies' proprietary yeast technologies in preventing and reducing acrylamide in an increasingly widening range of commercial food applications, including those that do not traditionally use baker's yeast,"said Howard Louie, Functional Technologies' Executive Chairman and Chief Business Development Officer. "Such collaborations and studies facilitate the efficient optimization of our technology in a range of commercial materials and protocols, increasing awareness and appeal to interested global partners and monitoring agencies, while providing commercial pathways by which to advance and expand on our platform-based technologies."