Apetit’s new rapeseed-based ingredient receives novel food authorisation from the European Commission
Apetit Plc, press release 11 December 2020 at 10.00 a.m.
BlackGrain from Yellow Fields, a new rapeseed-based ingredient developed by Avena Nordic Grain Plc, part of the Apetit Plc Group, has received novel food authorisation from the European Commission. BlackGrain from Yellow Fields is a plant protein and fibre powder, with great nutritional values and versatile product applications.
”Receiving the novel food authorisation for BlackGrain is a seal to several years of product development. It also gives us affirmation to continue our work in developing new rapeseed-based ingredients”, says Apetit’s CEO Esa Mäki.
After it had received a favourable opinion of risk assessment by the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), the authorization steps were continued with a risk management by the European Commission in July 2020. During the waiting period for the authorisation, Apetit has already taken steps in further development of BlackGrain.
“We will invest in initiating small scale production, in order to be able to test BlackGrain on a larger scale with potential clients. Additionally, we will continue to evaluate the possibilities regarding the commercializing of the ingredient”, Mäki says.
Lengthy product development and application processes
In order to market a novel food product in the EU, the product must receive a novel food authorisation from the European Commission. The goal of this process is to ensure the food safety of all new products. Apetit started developing BlackGrain in 2017, and the novel food application was handed to the Commission at the end of 2018.
”The Commission asked the EFSA for an opinion on the rape seed ingredient’s safety in June 2019. The EFSA gave BlackGrain its favourable opinion in July 2020, and the application was handed back to the Commission. It was processed swiftly within the applicable legislative timeframe”, says R&D Manager Kaisu Riihinen, who’s in charge of the ingredient development.
BlackGrain is made using an existing raw material with excellent nutritional values: oil seed cakes, which include fiber, protein, good fats and a balanced composition of amino acids. Previously, oil seed cake has been processed into oil seed expellers and utilized as animal feed. Through development into partially defattened rapeseed powder suitable for human consumption, it becomes a value-added product.
”Utilizing oil seed expeller, produced during oil pressing, in human consumption cuts down the food chain, and is an action for responsible food choices”, Riihinen says.
BlackGrain from Yellow Fields is vegan, gluten-, GMO-, and soy-free – it is suitable for most diets. Dark in colour and mild in taste, it works well with grains, pea protein and starch.
”We are developing the current BlackGrain ingredient with a customer-oriented approach. We take our customers’ requirements into consideration and help them find the best way of benefitting from BlackGrain in their product”, Riihinen sums up.
For more information, please visit: https://blackgrain.com/
The European Commission statement on BlackGrain: https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/comitology-register/screen/documents/070662/1/consult?lang=en
For more information, please contact:
Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041
Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering healthy and tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feeding stuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2019, Apetit Group’s net sales were EUR 313 million. Read more at apetit.fi.
Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Related articles
Good result for Apetit in CDP’s international climate assessment
Apetit Plc, press release, 7 December 2021 at 4:00 p.m. Apetit Group reached a B score for good environmental management in the evaluation of the global environmental organization CDP's Climate Change program. The Management score was given to Apetit after the company took part in a minimum version of the program. This was the first time Apetit participated in the CDP survey. “Sustainable food choices are at the core of Apetit’s goal-oriented climate work. For example, we are committed to cultivation development and to promotion of carbon farming in primary production, to focusing particularly on domestic vegetables and local fish, and to reduction of our direct CO2 emissions by 75 by 2025. We are glad to achieve the B score at disclosing the CDP at the first time”, says Sanna Väisänen, Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Apetit. CDP's annual Climate Change assessment analyzes and collects company-specific information on climate change mitigation, identification of climate risks and opportunities, and emissions. CDP Score Report - Climate Change 2021 (pdf) For further information, please contact: Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041 Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique and sustainable value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feedstuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2020, the Group’s net sales were EUR 293 million.
Apetit expands its Baltic Sea Commitment from fields to waterways
Apetit Plc, press release 3 December 2021 at 09:00 a.m.Apetit is expanding its Baltic Sea Commitment made to the Baltic Sea Action Group in 2019. The commitment, which is currently being updated, will expand from fields to waterways, thus also covering the development and expansion of the use of domestic local fish in the Apetit product range. “In practice, this means that Apetit’s product development will pay special attention to fish choices that promote the maintenance of the ecological balance of waterways and the reduction of nutrient load in waterways. At the same time, Apetit makes it possible for consumers to choose from a wide range of sustainable fish,” says Sanna Väisänen, Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Apetit. The use of local fish benefits the waterways, as eutrophication is one of the main sources of harm to the well-being of our waterways. Eutrophication refers to the overgrowth of algae caused by excessive nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which leads to, for example, turbidity, oxygen deficiency and a decrease in the diversity of living organisms. “We have invested heavily in the productisation of local fish, and therefore it was a natural choice for us to extend the Baltic Sea Commitment directly to waterways and products based on local fish. The positive effects will be reflected in both the Baltic Sea and inland waters,” Väisänen says. Apetit’s product family of local fish was born out of the desire to utilise the fish caught in Lake Pyhäjärvi in Säkylä as part of fish stock management. Today, the product family includes freshwater fish fingers and fish cakes, Särkisen fish balls and Baltic Sea fish fingers made from herring caught in the Baltic Sea, which were launched this autumn. “We are pleased that Apetit has selected local fish caught in the Baltic Sea as a raw material for familiar everyday products. We hope that local fish will permanently gain the appreciation they deserve on dinner tables,” says Michaela Ramm-Schmidt, Managing Director of BSAG. Focus on improving soil fertility Apetit’s commitment has previously focused on producing information that can be used in the contract farming of field vegetables, particularly when it comes to soil fertility improvement and carbon sequestration. These efforts are currently being put into practice in the ongoing projects at Apetit’s Räpi experimental farm. “The goals of the research projects include producing information and practices for improving soil fertility and water resource management as well as developing carbon farming, particularly in the cultivation of field vegetables,” says Väisänen. When training its contract growers, Apetit’s utilises the e-college for regenerative farming, which has been produced by BSAG with the help of a wide range of partners. “We are eagerly waiting for the results from the Räpi experimental farm, as scientific data on the regenerative methods of vegetable cultivation is still quite new and therefore very interesting,” says Ramm-Schmidt. Apetit will include the best cultivation practices identified in the research projects in its cultivation instructions for contract growers as well as provide all contract growers training in cultivation methods that will improve soil fertility and carbon sequestration. These methods are used to improve soil’s capacity to absorb water, nutrients and carbon. One of the goals is to ensure that the soil retains nutrients and supplies plants with them as efficiently as possible while preventing the nutrients from running off into waterways. For further information, please contact: Apetit Plc: Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041 BSAG: Irina Niinivaara, Corporate Relations Manager, tel. +358 40 664 1625 Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique and sustainable value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feedstuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2020, the Group’s net sales were EUR 293 million.
Publishing of Apetit Plc’s Business Review for January-September 2021
Apetit Plc, Press release, on 22 October 2021 at 10:00 a.m.Apetit Plc will publish its Business Review for January-September 2021 on Friday 29 October 2021 at 8.30 a.m. A separate press conference in relation to the Business Review will not be arranged. Apetit Plc For further information, please contact: Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041 Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique and sustainable value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feeding stuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2020, Apetit Group's net sales were EUR 293 million.
