Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

HEALTH, NUTRITION: Spilling the Beans

Institute of Food Technologists Food Expo finds companies searching for ways to sell soy

Soy products were all the rage at last week's Institute of Food Technologists Food Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Among the most sought-after samples were Archer Daniels Midland's chicken tenders coated with a carb-friendly, soy-based breading, being served here by research chef Brian Yager. Photo by Cariño Casas Among the soy-based products Archer Daniels Midland offered at last week's food expo was a buttery pecan soy frozen dessert. Soy ice cream is surrounded by soybeans. Photo by John Locher. Eric White of Archer Daniels Midland serves a NutriSoy Next barbecue sandwich, with a filling that tastes similar to barbecued chicken. Photo by Cariño Casas

Among all of the humectants, flavor potentiators, sequestrants and release agents -- don't feel bad, we don't know what they mean, either -- on display at the Institute of Food Technologists Food Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center last week, there was some actual food.

Make that a lot of food: samples in profusion that created a veritable freeloaders' paradise. There were s'mores- and dulce de leche-flavored nutritional bars from Virginia "Think of Us as a Flavor" Dare. Rolled wraps from Damascus "America's Original Pita -- and More" Bakery Inc. Blueberries from the U.S. Highbush "Blues That Make You Feel Good" Blueberry Council. Ice-cream bars, popcorn, nuts, candy ... and more. Always more.

The annual expo is an opportunity for companies that produce food and food-related products -- baking "solutions," cleaning "systems" -- to show their stuff to potential customers. Some of the products are brand-spankin' new, some old and familiar, some old and unfamiliar.

Floating above this year's event like an umbrella were the buzzwords of the U.S. diet: low-carb, anti-obesity and nutraceutical. The first two are closely linked and should come as no surprise. We all know about the low-carb craze. The only debates remain whether it's healthful -- and the answer to that depends on which experts you believe -- and whether it's a fad or a way of life.

The American food industry clearly is prepared for any eventuality, with expo booths offering low-carb teriyaki-glazed chicken wings, protein bars, shakes and candies. Pizzey's Milling touted lower carbs through the use of flax and Garden Protein International offered a vegetable-based protein meat replacement that it promises is low in carbohydrates. California Natural Products has sold its rice syrup all over the world for about 20 years, but its rice protein is newly gaining favor.

"That's been in high demand because of high-protein diets," said company representative Janet Campbell.

Nutraceuticals -- food items that are shown to provide health benefits -- were represented by such items as nutritionally engineered fats, white tea, red tea, lycopene nutrient blends and the aforementioned flax.

But the prevailing theme? Attendees have seen the future, and it is soy.

Soybeans aren't new, but their popularity is, at least in the United States. Since 1999, when the U.S. Food & Drug Administration reported that 25 grams of soy protein daily in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce heart-disease risk, soy consumption in the United States has grown at a steady rate. According to the Soyfoods Association of North America, soy-food sales in the United States were $3.65 billion in 2002, up from $862 million in 1992, and tofu sales went to $250 million from $108 million in the same period.

Mian Nadeem Riaz of the Food Science and Technology Program at Texas A&M University said Americans' increasing interest in soy is not only because it is associated with health benefits but also because of a growing concern about the danger of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.

"You can see it here -- how many (soy-related businesses) are on the floor," Riaz said at the expo. "It used to be there was nobody. You see, every year, more soy products."

And in ever-increasing forms, making it easier to incorporate soy into the American diet. MicroSoy Corp. displayed its soy flakes, which can increase the protein of mashed potatoes. Intellisoy showed its colorless and flavorless soy isoflavone, which is soluble in water and can be added to various foods and beverages. Spectrum Foods Inc. said its Nexsoy Extra is a high-fiber, low-fat soy flour with a neutral flavor.

But it seemed that whenever anyone mentioned soy products at the expo, someone was sure to ask, "Have you been to ADM yet?"

ADM -- or Archer Daniels Midland Co. -- invented the process to make the soy meat substitute texturized vegetable protein in 1966, said Christopher Banocy, the company's trade-relations manager. Banocy acknowledged it wasn't widely appreciated by the American public. Indeed, it was the mystery meat that became the stuff of school-cafeteria legend.

Forty years later, the company's newest product was a major buzz-generator -- and for good reason. While soy "hamburger" has been greatly improved in the past few decades, finding near-equivalents for meats such as chicken has been more of a challenge. Enter ADM's NutriSoy Next barbecue, which has a taste and texture surprisingly similar to actual barbecued chicken. Banocy said in a recent tasting of NutriSoy Next, 17 of 17 testers reacted positively.

At the expo, ADM also offered samples of actual chicken tenders, fried with "carb-friendly" soy and wheat-gluten breading, which had a crispness reminiscent of panko.

More products are being developed daily. Banocy said a recent study found that 43 percent of Americans make a connection between soy and heart health, but two things are limiting consumption.

"The Achilles' heel of soy is taste," he said. "We're working to improve the taste and texture of soy."