All MGP starches now non-GMO

25 Jul 2016

MGP Ingredients, a U.S. supplier of specialty wheat proteins and starches, has announced that all of the company's food grade starches are now designated as Non-GMO Project Verified.

All MGP starches now non-GMO

MGP Ingredients, a U.S. supplier of specialty wheat proteins and starches, has announced that all of the company's food grade starches are now designated as Non-GMO Project Verified. Verified status is also in place for several of the company's wheat proteins. This important milestone signals MGP's deepening commitment to the "better for you" market segment, the company said, and to meeting rigorous testing and production requirements.

Currently, 22 MGP products are Non-GMO Project Verified, including proprietary ingredients such as Fibersym RW resistant wheat starch, Midsol wheat starches, Pregel wheat starches, Optein lightly hydrolyzed wheat protein and Arise wheat protein isolate.

"Our Non-GMO Project Verified initiative represents a significant technical, manufacturing and quality assurance investment for MGP," said Mike Buttshaw, vice president for sales and marketing. "It speaks to the strength of our commitment and leverages the market demand for non-GMO, which climbed to $200 billion in sales in 2014 and is expected to reach $330 billion by 2019, according to Packaged Facts."

MGP says that its ingredients also align with several important macro-trends impacting the growing market for food products that are functional as well as protein-enriched, fibre-enhanced and with sensory benefits relating to taste, texture and appearance.

As an example, MGP notes that Fibersym RW resistant wheat starch recently met criteria for the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) new definition of dietary fibre. This occurs in tandem with the FDA's issuance of a recent directive requiring significant changes to labelling that appears on packaged food. The daily value for dietary fibre as it will appear in nutrition facts labels under the new directive was increased from 25 grams per day to 28 grams per day, which reflects a 12% increase.

The new FDA issuance includes resistant starch in the fibre definition and recognizes its potential to provide physiological benefits. MGP says that Fibersym RW is widely used in the U.S. and worldwide by food scientists and formulators to boost the total dietary fibre content of food products, and that it is one of the most studied, tested and proven forms of resistant starches in the market today.

"The consumer movement for non-GMO Project Verified ingredients across all food categories has catalyzed the industry. It's a remarkable opportunity. Our investment is a win-win-win for the food manufacturers we serve, consumers and MGP," Buttshaw concluded.