Tate & Lyle signs second licence agreement with Eminate over next generation sodium reduction technology

Tate & Lyle, a global provider of food ingredients and solutions, announces the signing of a second exclusive, worldwide licence agreement with Eminate Limited, a subsidiary of the University of Nottingham, for a hollow microsphere technology designed to reduce sodium bicarbonate in baked goods. The agreement follows the 2011 agreement between the two companies giving Tate & Lyle exclusive rights to the SODA-LO® Salt Microspheres technology.

The agreement gives Tate & Lyle exclusive rights to develop the new technology and to manufacture and commercialise ingredients derived from it. The technology is expected to eventually enable up to 50% reduction of sodium in baked good applications where sodium bicarbonate can be a greater overall contributor to sodium content than salt.

Dr John Stewart, Tate & Lyle’s Director of Open Innovation said: “We are delighted to announce our second agreement with Eminate. This new technology will help us to expand our sodium reduction offering into a wider range of categories and, while the technology is still at the development stage, the results to-date have been very encouraging. Tate & Lyle’s goal is to become the partner of choice in our sector and our new agreement with Eminate is another example of our Open Innovation approach at work, collaborating with innovative partners to develop new and exciting speciality food ingredients.”

“We are very happy to announce a second licence agreement with Tate & Lyle” said Neil Davidson, Chairman of Eminate Limited. “Our goal is to develop game-changing food ingredient technologies and to partner with global companies to commercialise them. This second agreement with Tate & Lyle demonstrates the success of this approach”.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tate & Lyle assumes responsibility for further development of the ingredient and will be responsible for commercialising the final product on a global basis including manufacturing, product development, sales and marketing.

In 2011 Tate & Lyle signed an exclusive worldwide licence agreement with Eminate for their SODA-LO® Salt Microspheres technology, which was launched globally in 2012. The industry has since recognised the innovative nature of SODA-LO® Salt Microspheres with a number of awards. In September 2012, SODA-LO® Salt Microspheres was recognised as one of the most innovative new ingredients at Food Ingredients South America. In November 2102, SODA-LO® was recognised as the “Heart Health and Circulatory Innovation of the Year”, and as the overall “Most Innovative Health Ingredient of the Year” at the 2012 Nutrition & Wellness Excellence Awards.