23 Aug 2023 — US-based molecular farming company Elo Life Systems (Elo) is addressing the country’s sugar health crisis with the development of a plant-based, natural sweetener, which provides antioxidants from more than 20 easy-to-grow fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon and cucumber.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans eat and drink too many added sugars, which can contribute to health problems such as weight gain and obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
While other businesses practice molecular farming with commodity crops such as soy or wheat, Elo’s advances lie in the types of plants and high number of genes it uses. It employs machine learning and data analytics to work with up to a dozen genes in more complex plants to create more intricate ingredients.
Food Ingredients First sits down with Elo’s CEO Todd Rands to understand what the firm’s sweetener discovery could mean for health and nutrition in the US and how it plans to pioneer molecular-farmed products after recently securing US$24.5M Series A funding.
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