Lentein Earns Innovation Award at the 2015 IFT Food Expo

14 Jul 2015 --- Parabel USA Inc., a provider of sustainable solutions for food ingredient production, announced today it is a recipient of the prestigious Innovation Award presented at the 2015 IFT Food Expo in Chicago. Parabel received the award for Lentein, an innovative plant protein ingredient that is 100 percent sustainable.

The new ingredient is extracted from a water lentil, Lemnoideae, which, with its high levels of protein combined with other macro and micro nutrients, has been described as the world’s most sustainable and complete food source.

The water lentil plant grows in a carbon neutral, lined aqua farm and the water use per kilogram of Lentein is substantially lower than that of other proteins. It is a non-GMO, fast growing crop that doubles in size every 16-32 hours and is harvested every day, which contributes to a yield higher than any other crop per-square-meter.

The protein ingredient contains comparable levels of amino acids to whey, and higher levels of amino acids than other plant proteins such as soy and pea. It is also soy, lactose and gluten-free. The cold pressed technology allows for additional versatility, and enables the extraction of various concentrations of the protein, allowing Parabel to bring different densities and functionalities to market.

The technology used by Parabel to develop Lentein has been identified as part of the solution to the food security crisis. With global estimates indicating that food demand will eventually outstrip supply – reports claiming 70 percent more food will be required in the next 30 years to support the population – this technology will be crucial to the future of food production.

Anthony Tiarks, CEO of Parabel states, “It’s fantastic to get this recognition from the IFT. Lentein is a completely sustainable, alternative protein source that will offer many nutritional and environmental benefits. As a pioneer in sustainable food science, we look forward to the possibilities this product could bring in helping to combat global food security issues.”

Parabel is in the process of building a commercial plant which will be able to supply several thousand tons of extracted, U.S. certified protein per year. Once the plant is finished, harvesting and supply can begin almost immediately.