By Rich
Haridy
March 27, 2022
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The macarons were made using a new egg white substitute
created using yeast engineered to produce the same proteins naturally found in
egg whites from chicken eggs Photo
credit: The
Every Company
VIEW 1 IMAGES
The Every Company, founded in 2014 under the name Clara
Foods, is one
of several food technology companies working to create
real animal-free proteins using a method called precision
fermentation. The idea behind the process is to break down certain animal
products, such as milk and eggs, to their molecular components and then use
microorganisms to produce those components.
Earlier this year the first
cow-free dairy milk using this method hit supermarket shelves in the
United States. That product was created using whey proteins from engineered
fungus, while other companies are working on similar dairy
products using engineered yeast to produce the desired milk proteins.
The Every Company has spent the last few years focusing on
using the same technique to produce chicken-free egg whites, working with
engineered yeast to produce proteins found in egg whites. The company has not
disclosed the specific combination of proteins used to create its final egg
white product, however it is likely ovalbumin – the primary protein component
in egg whites – plays a strong role in the recipe.
Arturo Elizondo, CEO of Every Company, said the new egg
white product functions exactly like a chicken-derived egg white. It whips,
aerates and bakes in ways identical to traditional egg whites, and the company
has teamed up with San Francisco-based bakery Chantal Guillon to launch the
product in a line of iconic French macarons.
“The egg white is one of the crown jewels of the food
industry, known for its unique functional properties that make it almost
impossible to replace – until today,” said Elizondo. “Today is also the first
time consumers anywhere in the U.S. can get a taste of EVERY EggWhite™ and the
fruit of seven years of deep R&D.”
The chicken-free egg white is the third animal-free product
created by the Every Company. Its first fully commercialized product was an
animal-free pepsin, launched in early 2021.
Pepsin is an enzyme used in hundreds of commercial food
products, most notably as an element in pharmaceutical capsules. The enzyme is
most commonly sourced from pig stomach lining. The Every Company's version of
pepsin allows for vegan-friendly pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The Every Company is not the first to explore precision
fermentation of egg white proteins. Earlier this year a team of researchers
from the University of Finland revealed the
successful production of ovalbumin from engineered fungus. The
researchers estimated manufacturing egg proteins this way could cut greenhouse
gas emissions by half compared to the current environmental impact of chicken
farming.
Plenty more work will be needed to scale up the production
of these kinds of animal-free proteins, but Elizondo is optimistic precision
fermentation methods will transform how we manufacture food.
“Our proteins are real, nature-equivalent animal proteins
(not plant-based or cell-based) made without using a single animal,” Elizondo
said. “The ability of precision fermentation technology to replace the proteins
of today is still in its infancy. We believe this technology will truly
transform our food system, and consequently, our world.”
Source: The Every Company