Peruvian plant syrup with promise to replace sugar
Alara aims to harvest a saccharide-rich syrup from a crop of 1,000 Yacon plants, founder Alex Smith told Food Ingredients, Health and Nutrition at a recent Food Manufacture Business Leaders’ Forum in London.
Smith confirmed that his company had submitted an application to the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP), which is the UK’s competent authority for approving novel foods.
Syrup from the Yacon plant, which is a Peruvian tuber grown in Central South America, the US, Russia and China, is recognised by the European Commission as a novel food and requires authorisation before it can be used on the UK market.
Most responsible alternative
Saccharides are not absorbed into the bloodstream and, “according to some, Yacon is the most responsible alternative to sugar”, said Smith.
“I think these sorts of things are one of the resources we have as a solution to the added sugar debate,” he added.
Smith hoped the ACNFP would approve Alara’s request for novel food status before the summer, which would allow the company to get its November harvest on the market as soon as possible.
Expand production
Alara would plan to expand its Yacon production if it were given novel food approval, which Smith anticipated would lead to the creation of new jobs in farming and within Alara. “In the first year it will probably create three full-time jobs,” he predicted.
In December 2013 the European Commission said it would review the system of novel foods authorisation, which could see all 28 Member States stripped of their main risk assessment role and centralise the procedure.
Read more about the EU’s proposed changes to the novel foods approval process here.
