Brazzein scale-up, aflatoxin B1 and process heat

A new production line is intended to make a sweet protein available at a three-digit tonne scale, but this does not provide access to the EU market. An Austrian control programme has identified a single but significant aflatoxin B1 finding. At its Strasbourg fermentation site, Lesaffre is combining heat recovery, heat pumps and energy recovery from process streams.

Bestzyme: a 100-tonne line meets an unresolved EU route to market

Bestzyme has completed an automated production line for brazzein in Jinan, China. The sweet-tasting protein occurs naturally in the West African plant Pentadiplandra brazzeana; Bestzyme produces a brazzein preparation by precision fermentation. According to the company, the new 5,000-square-metre facility integrates fermentation, purification and freeze-drying. Once fully operational, annual capacity is intended to exceed 100 tonnes and to double within two years. Bestzyme describes it as the world’s first commercial production line dedicated exclusively to sweet proteins [1]. This designation and the figures on yield, cost and performance are company claims and have not been independently validated.

The development is nevertheless more than a capacity announcement. Bottlenecks for high-intensity sweet proteins have involved not only strain development but also fermentation yield, separation, purification and reproducible product quality. An integrated line could change availability for application work and larger commercial production runs. It does not, however, establish where the specific preparation may be used or which specification would apply.

In the United States, the FDA lists Bestzyme’s preparation as GRAS Notice 1207. It is produced using Aspergillus oryzae 90402 and is intended for use as a sweetener at levels consistent with good manufacturing practice. The FDA stated that it had no questions at that time regarding the company’s GRAS conclusion [2]. This is not an FDA approval and has no direct effect on EU market access.

Under EU rules, substances used to impart a sweet taste to foods perform the function of sweeteners. Food additives may be used only if they are authorised and listed together with their conditions of use in the Union list [3][4]. No specific brazzein entry is currently identifiable in that list. Before procurement or formulation begins, manufacturers therefore need to clarify the technological function, manufacturing identity, specification and applicable authorisation route. Production capacity and US GRAS status do not replace that assessment.

AGES: aflatoxin B1 in one wholegrain rice cake

Austria’s official food control system tested 17 cereal-cake samples for mycotoxins and additionally tested the rice cakes for arsenic. One wholegrain rice-cake sample exceeded the maximum level for aflatoxin B1 and was assessed as harmful to health. The other 16 samples were not rejected [5]. The small sample does not support an estimate for the market as a whole. The finding remains operationally relevant because arsenic often dominates the risk discussion around rice cakes, while mycotoxins form a separate hazard profile linked to origin, harvest, drying and storage.

Regulation (EU) 2023/915 lays down product-specific maximum levels for contaminants [6]. For manufacturers and own-label operators, the appropriate response is not indiscriminately to increase testing. A risk-based control plan should connect cereal type, origin, supplier, harvest conditions, processing and target consumer. Release based only on arsenic results would leave the contaminant profile of rice cakes incomplete.

Lesaffre: process heat from electricity, recovery and process streams

Lesaffre, the ÉS Group and Dalkia are launching the R2E project at the yeast and fermentation site in Strasbourg. It combines heat recovery, high-performance steam heat pumps and energy recovery from industrial process streams. The system is intended to generate 168 GWh of low-carbon heat, up to 68 GWh of which could be supplied to Strasbourg’s district heating networks. Lesaffre projects a 98% decarbonisation of site heat, 35,700 tonnes of avoided CO₂ emissions a year and a reduction of more than 40% in well-water use [7].

The announcement shows industrial decarbonisation in fermentation being approached as an integrated process task. Heat sources, temperature levels, evaporation, water management and external heat demand have to be designed together. The figures are project targets; the investment amount, completion date and measured operational data have not been published. Transferability to other fermentation sites can therefore be assessed only after implementation.

Yours, Andreas Gebhart

Sources

All sources last checked and accessed on 24 September 2026.

1. Bestzyme: Dedicated sweet protein production line in Jinan, 17 September 2026.
2. FDA: GRAS Notice 1207 – Brazzein preparation produced by Aspergillus oryzae 90402, closed 10 April 2025; corrected response letter 23 May 2025.
3. Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Arts. 3–5 and 10 and Annexes I–II.
4. European Commission: EU rules on food additives, checked 24 September 2026.
5. AGES: Mycotoxins and arsenic in cereal cakes, 23 September 2026.
6. Regulation (EU) 2023/915, Art. 2 and Annex I.
7. Lesaffre: R2E project at the Strasbourg site, 23 September 2026.

Note: These news items provide professional context and do not replace a legal, toxicological, technological or product-specific assessment. Image: AI-generated.