Renaissance Ingredients Inc., an applied life sciences company that develops and commercializes AR yeast for the global food manufacturing industry, has released an overview of their results of an in-house, laboratory-scale trial of the efficacy of its acrylamide-reducing (AR) baker's yeast for applications in the global bread and baked goods market. They found that AR baker's yeast instead of conventional baker's yeast reduced the acrylamide in white and whole wheat bread and toast by an average of 80%.
Like GMOs, Renaissance's AR yeast strains have been modified with an accelerated natural ability, in this case to consume asparagine, the precursor of acrylamide found naturally in many foods. GMOs are a specific legal definition so, like the mutagenesis that preceded them and the RNAi that will supplant them now that they are going off patent, the new yeast is technically not a GMO, thus the non-GMO claim.
They say that in baking, AR yeast can seamlessly replace conventional baker's yeast without disrupting the baking process.
Th reduction in acrylamide was observed in untoasted bread, as well as across three degrees of toasting (light, medium and dark), which can increase acrylamide levels by up to ten times the amount in the untoasted bread. In most cases, the acrylamide level in the toasted bread made with the AR yeast was equal to the acrylamide level in the untoasted bread made with the conventional yeast. Importantly, no changes to the bread-making or baking processes-other than the use of AR yeast in place of conventional yeast-were required in order to achieve these reductions.
"These results confirm the efficacy, simplicity and seamlessness of using our AR yeast in all varieties of baked goods," said Renaissance Ingredients' president, Dr. Matthew Dahabieh. "We are also exceptionally pleased with the consistency exhibited by our AR yeast in reducing acrylamide across all levels of toasting. Essentially, our AR yeast eliminates the significant potential acrylamide that can be formed by end-consumer toasting of bread. Our in-house studies highlight the seamless efficacy of our AR yeast in reducing acrylamide in baked goods and toast. We are now looking to demonstrate this efficacy in pilot-scale trials by working closely with additional interested industry partners."