Cargill has announced that it has obtained approval for the use of sunflower lecithin in Japan – the only country in the world where it had not previously been approved for food applications.
Approval by Japan’s Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare means that Cargill’s Topcithin sunflower lecithin, which the company describes as a clean label non-GM emulsifier – made from oilseeds for which GM plant varieties do not exist at a commercial level – is available to customers in Japan for the first time. It also means food companies worldwide can export products containing Topcithin sunflower lecithin for sale in the growing Japanese market.
Moreover, according to the company, sunflower seeds are not amongst the common causes of food allergy, so Topcithin is not subject to allergen labelling requirements, unlike soy-derived varieties.
Cargill Texturizing Solutions commissioned studies from Japanese research company INA Research to fulfil the conditions for use from the country’s food authorities. After working closely with the Japanese government’s approval panels for three years, official approval of sunflower lecithin (E322) as a food additive was given.
“Until now Japan was the only country where sunflower lecithin had not been approved for food use, so businesses in this market and those exporting to Japan were missing out on this natural and safe alternative to soy lecithin,” said Chris Hollebeck, Cargill Texturizing’s business line manager, lecithins. “We initiated and secured the approval from the Japanese food authorities, and are pleased that our customers in Japan can now benefit from our versatile, nature-derived and non-GM Topcithin sunflower lecithin.”
First introduced in 2008, Cargill’s Topcithin sunflower lecithin is derived from European sunflower crops and produced in fully backwards integrated facilities to minimise risk of cross-contamination, traceable from field to fork, according to the company.
