Orkla extends license agreement for acrylamide-reducing yeast

Orkla Food Ingredients has extended its licensing agreement with Renaissance BioScience Corp, which allows Orkla to extend the sale of the acrylamide-reducing yeast Acrylow to new markets in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Orkla and Renaissance signed an agreement last year which gave Orkla the exclusive right to manufacture and sell Acrylow to food manufacturers in Europe, initially to clients in the Nordic and Baltic regions.

Orkla says that Acrylow has shown “excellent results” in large-scale trials, reducing acrylamide in various foods including baked goods, french fries and coffee.

Thore Svensson, senior vice-president of Orkla Food Ingredients, said: “Since we finalized our agreement with Renaissance last year we have conducted several commercial trials, all of which have shown excellent results and successfully launched the product for sale in the Nordic markets.

“As the European regulatory structure governing the acrylamide content of many food products and coffee comes into force within a few months, Orkla is pleased to expand its agreement with Renaissance to include Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in order to make Acrylow available to food manufacturers in those countries.”

Dr. Cormac O’Cleirigh, chief business development officer for Renaissance BioScience said: “It’s gratifying to see that Orkla and its food manufacturer customers have found our acrylamide-reducing yeast to be effective and easy to use in trials with no sensory impact on the finished product.

“Orkla is a leader in food quality and safety, and Renaissance is pleased to be partnering with the company to bring Acrylow not only to the already licensed Nordic and Baltic markets but also to these new central European markets.”