Israeli food-tech company Amai Proteins is ramping up the global rollout of its flagship sweet protein, sweelin, after securing regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) for use across a wide range of applications, including food and beverages, confectionery, chewing gum, condiments and dietary supplements.
The approval marks the next milestone for the company, coming just months after sweelin received its Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in the US earlier this year. Both regulatory approvals position Amai to expand commercialization in Asia-Pacific.
Sweelin is the first precision fermentation-derived sweet protein approved in Singapore, according to the company.
With regulatory clearance now in both the US and Singapore, Amai is preparing to scale commercialization, particularly in APAC. The company’s CEO Amir Guttman noted that the approvals represent a pivotal step in bringing sweet proteins into the mainstream market.
The company expects regulatory approval in Israel within the next few months, with future sights set on Canada, Latin America and the broader APAC region, according to Guttman.
“Our strategy is to prioritize markets with strong innovation ecosystems, clear regulatory pathways and significant demand for healthier sugar reduction solutions,” he said.
Sweet proteins gain traction
Sweelin belongs to a class of naturally occurring sweet proteins found in plants and fungi that is known for delivering intense sweetness – often thousands of times sweeter than sucrose. Amai’s ingredient is inspired by monellin, a sweet protein found in the serendipity berry native to West Africa, and is composed solely of amino acids, according to the company.
Unlike traditional sugars, sweelin is a protein rather than a carbohydrate. It is digested like any other protein, breaking down into amino acids, and contains zero calories.
The company says the ingredient can reduce sugar by 40-70% across more than 30 applications, while maintaining a clean taste profile and stability under heat and varying pH conditions – key hurdles that have historically limited the use of alternative sweeteners.
Sweelin also works in combination with sugar and other sweeteners, allowing formulators to retain functional benefits from sugar such as bulking and mouthfeel that high-intensity sweeteners alone cannot provide.
Sweelin’s cost is competitive in specific applications, according to Guttman.
Yet, as production scales and optimizes, sweelin’s cost is expected to “ultimately achieve pricing that is competitive - and potentially below - sugar and many other sweeteners on a sweetness-equivalent basis,” he said.
Clinical validation and metabolic neutrality
Amai is building a clinical case for sweet proteins. The company recently completed what it describes as the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) on a sweet protein, with results showing that sweelin does not impact blood glucose, insulin or GLP-1 levels.
Those findings, expected to be published soon, align with broader industry efforts to develop ingredients compatible with the growing demand for metabolic health and GLP-1-friendly products.
Overcoming production barriers via precision fermentation
While sweet proteins are not new, their commercial use has been constrained by supply challenges. Extracting them from natural sources is resource-intensive and limited by geography, climate and contamination risks.
Amai addresses this through precision fermentation, enabling consistent, scalable and cost-efficient production independent of environmental constraints. Fermentation is commonly used across the alternative sweetener space by companies such as Oobli, which received a ‘no questions’ letter from FDA, and MycoTechnology, which achieved self-affirmed GRAS status, for their sweet proteins.
Clean label positioning and commercialization push
In the US, sweelin can be labeled as “Serendipity Berry Sweet Protein,” a designation the company says supports clean-label positioning at a time when brands are seeking more consumer-friendly ingredient declarations.
The ingredient’s potency is also a key differentiator: Amai says 300 grams of sweelin can replace up to 1,000 kilograms of sugar, enabling significant sugar reduction without compromising taste.
