Renaissance Ingredients closer to commercializing acrylamide-reducing yeast

Vancouver — Taking another step towards commercializing its non-GMO acrylamide-reducing (AR) baker’s yeast strain, Vancouver-based Renaissance BioScience Corp. has announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has “no questions” regarding Renaissance’s generally regarded as safe (GRAS) notice for its yeast strain.

“GRAS status provides further validation to food manufacturers worldwide to apply our innovative AR yeast to address the acrylamide problem that continues to be a concern in many foods and beverages,” said John Husnik, CEO of Renaissance BioScience in a company release.

Acrylamide has been shown to cause cancers in a variety of laboratory animal studies. As early as 2002, acrylamide was identified in a range of common foods, including bread, toast, potato chips, fries, cereals and coffee. Acrylamide forms naturally in these foods when they’re heated above 120-degrees C (e.g., during baking).

Renaissance Ingredients, the subsidiary responsible for bringing the product to market, says its AR yeast could replace the use of conventional baker’s yeast in products and reduce acrylamide amounts in final products by up to 90 per cent.

“Recognizing that food safety regulators have requested lowering acrylamide levels to As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA), Renaissance Ingredients Inc. is pleased to have completed another step in the process to make our AR yeast commercially available as a safe and effective new tool for food manufacturers to lower acrylamide levels,” commented Renaissance Ingredients Inc.’s president Matthew Dahabieh in the company release.