Dutch start-up FUMI Ingredients aims to beat the competition in the egg replacement market with its vegan egg whites. By upcycling used beer yeast from breweries, FUMI have created a tasteless, non-GMO, allergy friendly egg white replacer.
Claiming to be the world’s first vegan and non-GMO egg-white replacer, made from naturally occurring micro-organisms, plans are well underway to bring it to market, and interest is high. “If you look at the Dutch meat replacement market, we are in touch with more than half of all producers,” said advisor Dr. Corjan van den Berg in an interview with Food Navigator.
With a variety of uses, from foaming proteins, gelling and binding protein as well as emulsifiers, the plant based egg whites could be used in meringues, mayonnaise and more. Van den Berg, along with FUMI founder Dr. Edgar Suarez Garcia, have stated the environmental impact of food producers opting for their product instead of chicken eggs, with a potential huge reduction in CO2 emissions.
“If you compare this to our process, you achieve over 95% reduction of CO2 equivalent. It is an enormous step,” explained van den Berg.
The two researchers were working on a research project looking into the use of microalgae and its proteins due to their knowledge of its considerably low carbon footprint. That is when they noticed the remarkable similarities to the properties of egg whites. They obtained used yeast from local breweries in order to test the process, and the results were positive.
“It was amazing! We could make meringues out of proteins made from brewer’s spent yeast!” said van den Berg.
