NZ must adapt to new market, scientist says

AUCKLAND: New Zealand’s export markets might suffer if our industries do not branch out into highend, plantbased foods, a leading scientist says.

A fastgrowing global ‘‘clean food’’ industry has already turned out new items such as meat made from plantprotein, chicken and beef grown from selfproducing cells, and chicken made from pea protein.

It wasn’t just ‘‘mockmeat’’ like the muchdebated Impossible Burger on the menu, but a wider generation of foods that could combine the nutritional power of plant proteins with the meat and dairy products we eat today.

Plant and Food Research science general manager Jocelyn Eason, speaking in Auckland yesterday, described them as ‘‘the hero’’ of tomorrow’s dinner plates.

‘‘We envision these future food products to be 100% plantbased, nutritious, sustainable and entirely made in New Zealand,’’ she said.

‘‘Although there are a number of challenges, including flavour and texture, allergens, antinutritional factors, plantbased foods can deliver good nutrition,’’ Dr Eason said.

‘‘Our challenge is in how we might develop new raw material streams from plants in such a way that we don’t strip out all of the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, some of which are not available from other food sources.’’

The future she envisaged would not come without a ‘‘mindset change’’ in how the country produced food — along with a mass shift in land use and new investment and infrastructure.

‘‘There may be a time lag to the introduction and use of novel foods, ingredients and technologies as extra work is needed to prove they are safe,’’ she said.

‘‘The commercialisation process of some future foods may be slow if they are perceived to be ‘anovel’ in our export markets.

‘‘It will take a bit more planning, design and time to achieve commercialisation.’’

It was here that she saw a big role for New Zealand science.

That included developing new ingredients isolated from plants which could be incorporated into foods, along with new processes that could isolate plant proteins while boosting nutritional value.

Innovation was needed to form food protein structures, ensure they had an acceptable taste and texture, and deliver the finished product itself.

Recent advances in technology had allowed scientists to pinpoint potential ingredients and quantify their makeup.

This opened the door to scaling up these processes so they could be used in production.

Further, Dr Eason said they would not need to involve introducing or even editing any genetic material, which remained heavily regulated by current New Zealand laws.

On the environmental front, with lower water and nitrogen use, plant production could help New Zealand reach its aspiration to become carbonneutral by 2050.

‘‘As a rough estimate, New Zealand has more than 1,737,000ha of land suitable for growing plant protein crops,’’ she said.

‘‘Consumers are also becoming more aware of the sustainability limit for animal foods and considering the social impact of food production.’’

This was helping make plantbased foods more acceptable and economically viable.

Failing to offer products that catered to ‘‘flexitarian’’ diets and had a greener focus might cause our export markets to decline, Dr Eason warned. — NZME