Kerry has secured a licence agreement with Renaissance BioScience Corp to supply acrylamide-reducing yeast enzyme Acryleast to food and beverage manufacturers from next year.

Acryleast is a clean-label, non-GMO yeast enzyme that reduces acrylamide by up to 90% in products, including biscuits, crackers and potato crisps, said Kerry. It added the ingredient has no or minimal changes to manufacturing processes and no impact on flavour, aroma and texture.

The deal comes seven months after the introduction of new EU regulations to establish best practice, mitigation measures and benchmark levels for the reduction of acrylamide in food.

Acrylamide is a chemical created when foods, particularly starchy ones like bread, are cooked for long periods at temperatures above 120˚C. Lab tests have shown acrylamide in the diet causes cancer in animals and, while evidence from human studies has been inconclusive, the scientific consensus is that it has the potential to cause cancer in humans.

Acryleast developer Renaissance BioScience Corp said there had been a lot of interest from food manufacturers globally for the enzyme, given changing regulations and consumer pressure.

“We are delighted to announce Kerry’s partnership with Renaissance, an innovative life science company,” said Mike Woulfe, Kerry VP Business Development Enzymes. “Their non-GMO approach to acrylamide reduction fits very well with our clean-label strategy. We look forward to bringing this effective solution for acrylamide reduction of up to 90%, to food producers around the globe.”

Orkla Food Ingredients holds a licence agreement with Renaissance BioScience Corp to promote Acryleast to the Nordic and Eastern European market.