Puratos UK secures grant from Innovate UK

25 Jan 2021

Puratos UK secures grant from Innovate UK to enrich breads and cakes with sustainable fibre, aiming to fight food waste while contributing to consumer’s health and well-being 

A collaboration between Puratos UK, Biopower Technologies, Food Science Fusion and the University of Chester has won a grant from Innovate, the UK government funded body. The grant is awarded for the innovative usage of food waste to enrich bread and cakes with fibres and proteins.

The innovation, called Maxfibre, is prepared from side stream products of brewery, cereal milling and fruit processing to deliver a natural, low cost dietary fibre in a micro powder format. It could allow bakers to increase the amount of fibre in a finished good without compromising  taste and texture. This would make affordable, nutritional food accessible to more people, and  in a sustainable way thanks to the  upcycling of fibres.

Innovate UK Executive Chair Dr Ian Campbell said: “In these difficult times we have seen the best of British business innovation. The pandemic is not just a health emergency but one that impacts society and the economy. Campbell goes on to say “Maxfibre along with every initiative Innovate UK has supported through this fund, is an important step forward in driving sustainable economic development.”

Most adults in the UK are eating well below the recommended daily intake of 30g of fibre. On average only 18g per day is being consumed.** Consumers recognise the need for fibre in their diet and in the UK bakery products already provide approximately 25% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of fibres. Alongside this, shoppers are increasingly open to the reformulation of finished goods; 81% agreed ‘I’m happy if recipes of products are changed to make them healthier, provided they’re still as tasty’ (up from 79% in October 2019).***

* https://blogs.un.org/blog/2020/06/15/our-food-systems-are-failing-and-the-covid-19-pandemic-is-making-things-worse/
** Government guidelines published in July 2015 (SACN, 2015) and Public Health England
*** IGD Industry faces growing pressure to revolutionise snacking (Base: 1,000+ ALL shoppers, July 2020)

“This project meets Puratos’ commitment for producing more sustainable and healthy ingredients. Maxfibre aims to improve the health and enjoyment of bakery products whilst exploring new ways to re-purpose and re-think food waste streams. We hope for many similar opportunities and projects that allow us to work on combining great taste, health and sustainability!”. 
comments James Slater, R&D Director at Puratos UK.