Monsanto: Why the next generation of low linolenic soybean oils will be a success
Cooking oil from Monsanto's Vistive Gold ultra-low linolenic acid soybeans promises extended fry life and stability at high temperatures – along with a sharp reduction in saturated fat (60% less than regular soybean oil). But why do bosses believe it will succeed when its previous attempt at low linolenic oils did not set the market on fire?
Lots of reasons, says food business development director Philippe Ballet, who says the new seeds should gain regulatory approvals on a global basis in the first quarter of 2014, with the oils widely available in 2015.
For a start, Vistive Gold is a superior product from the perspective of growers focused on yields, honed over a period of several years as Monsanto has waited for the wheels of regulatory authorities around the globe to turn, says Ballet.
It's also far more stable than the company's original low linolenic product, which was "rushed to market" amid demand for an immediate alternative to trans-fat-producing partially hydrogenated soybean oils, and disappointed many chefs, admits Ballet.
But crucially, this time, Monsanto has worked hard to match supply and demand, with a commitment from one firm - Biosynthetic Technologies, which plans to use Vistive Gold to make biosynthetic lubricant oils - to buy a fixed volume of the oil, getting the ball rolling nicely, adds Ballet.
Monsanto has also worked with a lot of large food companies who like the fresh clean taste, extended fry life and superior stability of the oil, he says.
But aren't these companies already well-served by high oleic canola oils?
Yes, he says, but Vistive Gold oil will offer the same functionality with a "cost advantage".
Vegetables with enhanced taste, nutrition, color, flavor and texture
Also on show at the expo were vegetables grown from seeds developed by Monsanto's marker-assisted breeding program. This identifies genetic markers in plants’ DNA that are linked to desirable traits (better color/flavor/nutritional content). These are then used to screen all of the plants available for breeding and accurately select and breed only the seeds that will produce plants with the desirable traits.
However, it does not involve genetic engineering, says Ballet.
"95% of what we do in vegetables is non-GMO, broccoli with 2-3 times more glucoraphanin; baby bell peppers a third of the size of full-size bell peppers, for consumers that want a mix of colors from peppers but find the larger ones lose their freshness; melons 30-40% sweeter than traditional wintertime cantaloupes."
