Arcadia Biosciences, an agricultural food ingredient company, today announced plans to add its new reduced gluten (RG) wheat lines to its GoodWheat portfolio of branded ingredients. The company expects to have its first RG bread wheat flour available for commercial testing by the end of the year.
Arcadia’s reduced gluten wheat, developed through research funded in part by a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders Institute, is the second product to be added to Arcadia’s recently announced GoodWheat branded ingredients platform, along with its high fiber Resistant Starch (RS) wheat lines. The goal of the GoodWheat brand is to add value to the entire wheat supply chain, from seed to table, by enabling a wider range of choices to meet evolving consumer demands.
Arcadia developed RG GoodWheat for people who enjoy the taste, texture and nutritional benefits of wheat in the foods they love and, at the same time, would like to reduce gluten in their diets. The gluten-free food market is estimated to grow to $7.59 billion by 2020 in the U.S. However, only about 1 percent of the population suffers from celiac disease, which necessitates a gluten-free diet. A much larger number of people who choose to eat gluten-free products do not have gluten-related medical conditions but report feeling better by consuming less gluten.
Arcadia’s RG product is a non-GM, patent-pending, identity preserved specialty wheat in which allergenic glutens have been reduced by 75 percent and overall gluten content has been reduced by 60 percent. At the same time, the levels of glutens important for bread-making are not changed.
“A growing number of consumers are making a conscious effort to reduce gluten in their diets, even if they haven’t been diagnosed with celiac disease, so we developed Reduced Gluten GoodWheat to give those consumers more choices to continue enjoying the healthy wheat-based foods they love,” says Raj Ketkar, president and CEO of Arcadia Biosciences. “These proprietary wheat varieties, developed using advanced screening and plant breeding techniques, also give food processors an opportunity to differentiate their brands and create unique brand extensions.”
Arcadia expects to have its first RG GoodWheat branded bread wheat flour available to test milling and baking ability in late 2018, with a projected launch for pre-commercial activities approximately 12 months later. Development work is also ongoing as Arcadia conducts studies into reducing allergenic gluten levels in pasta wheat.
