First commercial application of asparaginase (PreventASe™) anywhere in the world

German consumers will be the first in Europe to be able to buy baked foods that are very low in acrylamide. A German manufacturer of Christmas biscuits (‘Speculatius’) will launch the product in German supermarkets in the course of October. The manufacturer wants to remain unknown until actual launch, for competitive reasons. This news has been released this morning by DSM Food Specialties, the developer and manufacturer of PreventASe™, the enzyme that reduces acrylamide in food, through the process of asparaginase. Acrylamide is a toxic substance, suspected to cause cancer in humans.

PreventASe™ has been added to the production process of the Christmas biscuits of the said manufacturer. Tests showed that acrylamide was reduced with 70%.

This breakthrough news follows on yesterday’s announcement that DSM Food Specialties, Frito-Lay and Procter & Gamble have reached an agreement on the Intellectual Property rights to apply asparaginase in food products. “ Our enzyme has been available for a couple of months for food manufacturers and we see that actual uptake is picking up now”, says Judith Heikoop from DSM Food Specialties. “The launch in Germany is indeed a breakthrough. It is the first time that asparaginase is being applied commercially, anywhere in the world”.

Approval in France
Another milestone that DSM Food Specialties has achieved, is the positive advise on commercialization of PreventASe™ for application in heated foodstuffs in France. The approval of the dossier by the French food health safety agency (AFSSA) followed by a positive advise from the DGCCRF, means the enzyme can now be applied as processing aid. France and Denmark are the only countries in the EU where such approval is needed. DSM has filed for approval in Denmark and expects a positive decision soon. Earlier, the FDA has granted a GRAS safety notification to PreventASe™.

PreventASe™ is the first enzyme ready to be marketed that is able to reduce acrylamide in baked foods by as much as 90%, to levels that significantly lower the daily human intake of acrylamide. Acrylamide is a toxic substance, which is proven to be carcinogenic in animals and suspected to be carcinogenic in humans. Earlier, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) expressed that acrylamide may indicate a human health concern, given its genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.

The PreventASe™ enzyme is a so-called “asparaginase enzyme preparation” from the Aspergillus niger micro-organism (A. niger). The enzyme basically converts one of the precursors of acrylamide, asparagine, into another naturally occurring amino acid, aspartate. As a result, asparagine is not available anymore for the chemical reaction that forms acrylamide when carbohydrate-containing foods, such as bread, cake, cookies, potato chips and cereals are being heated. The PreventASe™ enzyme essentially reduces the formation of acrylamide, by up to 90%. Applying asparaginase in food in order to reduce acrylamide has been identified by various institutions as one of the solutions, such as the CIAA (Acrylamide Toolbox of 29 September 2006), the joint FAO/WAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on contaminants in Foods and, several (semi)governmental institutions in Europe.