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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Food protein U.S.-bound
Product of city Burcon lab gets FDA approval
KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image
Burcon’s Martin Schweizer says the FDA’s GRAS designation has proven critical to a product’s appeal to U.S. consumers.
A new human food protein that was developed in a Winnipeg laboratory could soon find its way into beverages and other foods after receiving a key regulatory stamp of approval in the United States on Monday.
After more than 10 years of research, Burcon NutraScience Corp. got the approval that its canola proteins are safe for human consumption, starting the wheels in motion on the next phase of commercializing the product.
Although he could not be specific, company president Johann Tergesen said he would not be surprised if the company were to announce more news in the next few weeks.
"Getting this decision triggers some timing issues under our licensing agreement," Tergesen said.
Burcon, headquartered in Vancouver, has an exclusive licensing agreement with the U.S. food giant Archer Daniel Midland Co. (ADM) to produce and market the two different canola protein isolates.
ADM produced the thousand-plus-page submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which issued its ruling Monday that the proteins are Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS).
Martin Schweizer, Burcon's Winnipeg-based vice-president for technical development, said it means the company is free to sell the product.
"What we have learned in the past is that customers who might like to use our product as ingredients would only want it if it received the GRAS designation," Schweizer said.
This week's FDA ruling was preceded two year earlier by what is called self-affirmed GRAS, where the company itself assembles a team of experts and produces evidence to show the product is safe.
The FDA-approved process includes having the company's findings published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Burcon, which was formed in the late '90s from a Winnipeg company that was doing research on canola, has now developed patented extraction technologies to produce two different canola protein isolates designed to be used as food ingredients. There are currently no canola proteins available in the commercial marketplace.
The company said it believes the proteins can be included as ingredients in all sorts of food products, including as a protein alternative to egg or powdered egg in dairy products, processed meats, grain products, fruit and vegetable juices and beverages, salad dressings, and meal replacements and nutritional bars.
In recent years it has also come up with a new soy protein isolate. Although there are other soy proteins that are used as ingredients, Tergesen said Burcon's version contains advantageous characteristics, including the fact it will transparently dissolve in liquid and does not have the "nutty" taste other soy ingredients exhibit.
Burcon has 20 U.S. patents and another 66 pending. It raised about $16 million in an equity offering last summer at $5.75 a share.
Burcon NutraScience Corp.
Formed in 1998 as a venture pool company.
In 1999, it acquired BMW Canola Inc. of Winnipeg.
Winnipeg has remained Burcon's research and development centre with a staff of 13 scientists.
It developed the world's first commercial canola proteins, Puratein canola protein isolate and Supertein..¢ canola protein isolate with unique functional and nutritional attributes.
In November 2008, it developed CLARISOY soy protein isolate, a soy protein isolate that is 100 per cent soluble and completely transparent in acidic solutions.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 31, 2010 B3
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