Innovative Soybean Oil Offers Health, Cooking, and Taste Benefits

Iowa’s Trans Fat Free Asoyia™ Oil Enters the Marketplace

Winfield, Iowa ( October 13, 2004 ) - The first batch of Asoyia soybean oil was shipped this week from Iowa, serving up a trans fat free and reduced saturated fat cooking alternative to restaurants and consumers. The soybean oil is the first of its kind offering this combination of health benefits, while providing restaurant chefs and their customers the great taste of fried foods that they have grown accustomed to.

“Asoyia offers the first frying oil that addresses everyone’s needs today,” said Vivan Jennings, CEO of Asoyia. “It has zero trans fats, reduced saturated fat, practically no transferable taste, a long fryer life, and is not genetically modified. Plus, food cooked in Asoyia tastes great and is crispier compared to other oils.”

Asoyia is being introduced to the market after years of scientific development and testing by soybean breeders, food scientists, restaurants, and consumers. Its one percent linolenic acid content—the lowest available on the market—eliminates the need for the hydrogenation process which conventional soybean oils must go through to maintain freshness and long-lasting stability for commercial cooking applications. This hydrogenation creates unhealthy trans fats, which have been linked directly to adverse affects on cholesterol and heart disease.

The Food and Drug Administration is requiring food manufacturers to list the amount of trans fats on food labels in 2006. In advance of this regulation, nutritionists, consumers, lobbying groups, and industry advocates have been increasingly calling for

alternative oils that will eliminate trans fats in packaged and restaurant foods. Asoyia has no trans fats without increasing saturated fat, adversely affecting taste, or increasing cost or labor for restaurant owners.

“When we tested Asoyia in our restaurant, our customers didn’t notice any difference in taste,” said Jason Wheelock, manager of Hickory Park Restaurant in Ames, Iowa. “From a cooking perspective, the oil also looked better and lasted twice as long as the oil we used to use. For us and our customers, it’s a great combination: tastes good, lasts longer, and is healthier all around.”

Food distributors also have recognized Asoyia’s benefits. With growing health consciousness throughout the country, restaurateurs are increasingly feeling the need to adjust. “Asoyia is now the healthiest way to fry goods without sacrificing taste or cost competitiveness,” said Rusty Claypool, program manager at SYSCO Food Services of Iowa. “It’s the next step in the evolution of fryer shortening.”

Asoyia oil is produced from one percent linolenic soybeans, which are the result of more than 30 years of research by agronomists and food scientists at Iowa State University. Soybean breeder Walter Fehr, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture, and Earl Hammond, Emeritus University Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition, studied linolenic acid traits in soybeans and developed the Asoyia soybean’s unique ultra low composition.

Cargill has agreed to process the soybeans into oil for shipment to the marketplace. Through this processing relationship, Asoyia plans to have 6,000 acres worth of the specially bred soybeans turned into approximately three million pounds of Asoyia oil which will be delivered over the next year. Asoyia plans to produce at least 20 million pounds in the following year.

“Cargill is pleased to have the opportunity to work with a progressive, well organized group of agricultural producers like Asoyia,” said Jim Sutter, a vice president of Cargill’s Grain and Oilseed Supply Chain, N.A. business unit.

Asoyia has already received orders from several restaurants and food distributors for the first batch of Asoyia oil. The company is also in discussion with many other restaurants and institutional food service organizations who have expressed interest in the product. Information about ordering and purchasing Asoyia is available by calling the company headquarters at 319-257-3400.

Asoyia is a privately held company, which is owned by 25 growers of the ultra low linolenic soybeans. The growers are shareholders in the company, and participate in all decisions regarding the growing, processing, marketing, and selling of their product.

Note: Photos related to this story are available by emailing susie@asoyia.com or joyce@asoyia.com. Additional information is available on the Asoyia website at www.asoyia.com.

Contact:
Susie Zimmermann
301-229-0688
susie@asoyia.com

Joyce Johannson
612-927-4543
joyce@asoyia.com

Back to News Summary