Food & Beverage Asia June/July 2022

BITING ISSUES 19
Chr. Hansen launches new VEGA Boost
cultures for development of dairy-free
cream cheese
Chr. Hansen has developed a range of VEGA
Boost cultures as the newest addition to
the VEGA Culture Kit. The dairy-free fava
bean cream cheese offers taste, good
nutrition, sustainability and affordability, in
a formulation which can be allergen-free.
Development of the cream cheese was
performed using expertise and ingredients
from Ingredion, AAK, and Givaudan,
who have been working together with
Chr. Hansen on new plant-based dairyalternative
concepts at MISTA, a Californiabased
future-food innovation ecosystem.
Fava bean proved to have the right sensory,
affordability and physical properties to
create a great product with the functional
and nutritional properties needed in a
spreadable vegan cream cheese.
Christian Gilleladen, principal application
scientist at Chr. Hansen, said: “Producers see
the relatively low cost and simple recipe and
production process as an added benefit.”
The fermented fava bean cream cheese
alternative can modified using flavours
or spices that meet regional preferences
for taste, texture and appearance.
Key to the creation of this product was
the development of VEGA Boost, the new
Chr. Hansen adjunct cultures that offer
increased flexibility in fast fermentation
and provide an enhanced flavour experience.
The new bacterial strains in VEGA Boost offer
customers an opportunity to change the
fermentation process for specific product
needs. Key benefits of using VEGA Boost
include improved fermentation performance
and more complex flavours — delivering flavour
differentiation in plant-based dairy alternatives.
VEGA customers receive support from
Chr. Hansen’s team of plant-based
fermentation specialists and application
laboratories, beginning during the ideation
phase and continuing through postlaunch
troubleshooting. Chr. Hansen also
invests in consumer and market research
to ensure alignment between consumer
needs and the features that VEGA cultures
bring to plant-based products. ■
Superbrewed Food's
postbiotic cultured
protein receives selfaffirmed
GRAS status
Superbrewed Food has announced that
its proprietary postbiotic cultured protein
has achieved self-affirmed GRAS
(“generally recognised as safe”) status.
In accordance with the US Food and
Drug Administration requirements, an
independent panel of experts reviewed
Superbrewed Food's safety dossier on its
postbiotic cultured protein ingredient. The
panel agreed that the data demonstrates
safety for consumption in a broad range of
food applications, and that the ingredient
poses limited risk as a food allergen.
Superbrewed Food's postbiotic cultured
protein is an anaerobically fermented
whole food protein made from microflora
found in nature that convert plant starches
into a nutrient rich protein ingredient. The
ingredient is more than 80% protein by weight,
among the highest protein concentration in a
single microbe ever reported. It is high quality
protein as it contains all nine essential amino
acids and more branched-chain and essential
amino acids than plant-based proteins. It is a
“whole food” because it is minimally processed
to retain its natural nutrition beyond protein.
For example, a 30g serving meets the FDA
requirements for being a “good source” of five
B-vitamins, including a full day's supply of B-12,
and a “good source” of six essential minerals,
such as iron, phosphorus and magnesium.
"This is a major milestone in our mission to bring
many highly nutritious, versatile microbiomebased
ingredients to market," said Bryan Tracy,
the CEO and co-founder of Superbrewed
Food. "Our protein ingredient performs well
in products ranging from alternative dairy to
baked goods, due to its neutral taste, natural
white colour, excellent pH and temperature
stability, and good emulsification properties.
Also, our production process is low-cost
and highly scalable, which renders it as
an affordable ingredient for companies to
incorporate in a wide range of products." ■
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE / JULY 2022