The ASA-IM Middle East Soy Foods Program

ASA-IM has been involved for several years in the Middle East in promoting the use of soy products in human food.  Program focus largely has been on demonstrating the use of soy flour in breads and bakery products, given the nutritional and functional advantages that can be achieved by doing so.  The promotion of texturized soy protein (TSP) has also been a feature of the Middle East program.

ASA-IM anticipates expanding its soy foods program in this region, building on successes that the organization has achieved in other parts of the world and in collaboration with the organization's Global Technical Director - Human Nutrition, who coordinates all aspects of the ASA-IM soy food program worldwide.  ASA-IM is - or soon hopes to - encourage regional private sector investment in other soy foods such as soy milk, soy cheese, tofu, etc.

As a result of promotional workshops and demonstrations, U.S.-sourced soy flour is coming into several countries of the region in significant quantities.  ASA-IM-sponsored demonstrations using this flour continue, using expertise from within the region and from beyond. 

The gradual increase in the usage of soy flour in breads, donuts and other bakery products; in tortillas and in pizza dough; and in sausages and luncheon meats has resulted in an increase in U.S. soy flour imports from a few thousand MT in 2003/2004 to 23,543 MT in 2007/2008.  The lead importing countries in the region are Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Lebanon.

Soy Foods in Egypt

ASA-IM assisted in introducing soy flour into the Egyptian market by conducting many baking demonstrations in large and small bakeries, including in government-controlled subsidized Baladi (flat bread) bakeries.  Adding soy flour to breads allows bakers to meet the minimum protein level required by the GoE's Ministry of Social Solidarity, the body in charge of controlling the supply of subsidized bread.  Private sector flour mills, who are now allowed to compete with public sector flour mills in supplying wheat flour to make subsidized bread, are contributing to the increased imports of defatted soy flour into the country.  

On a related program front, a soy extrusion plant dedicated to the production of texturized soy protein (TSP) was established several years ago in Borj El Arab, Alexandria, with technical assistance from several ASA-IM soy food consultants.  The plant has succeeded in making extruded products from U.S. beans, and is marketing these products to large meat processing plants, thus increasing TSP usage in meat products.  In 2007, plant capacity was doubled by installing a new InstaPro International® TSP production line.

Recent, Important Events

ASA-IM has worked closely with the Food Technology Research Institute (FTRI) of the MoE's Ministry of Agriculture to develop and promote soy-containing Egyptian dishes and, as part of this promotion effort, a book on soy food recipes was published (to obtain a copy of this book, contact msherif@asaimmea.org). Partnering with FTRI, three soy food conferences cum soy food demonstrations were held for potential investors, however, no new investments have so far materialized.

In 2007, a seven-member Egyptian team attended a technical short-course, "Baking with Soy", which included field visits and baking trials, at the Northern Crops Institute (NCI) in North Dakota (USA). While in the U.S., the team also met Mr. Ahmed Maany, the officer in charge of Jordan's army bakeries; Mr. Maany shared his positive experiences in using soy flour.

Soy Foods in Turkey and Elsewhere in the Region

During the past several years, baking trials have been carried out in Turkey in private and municipality bakeries with U.S. soy flour, and these continue.  As a result of these trials, increasing orders for U.S. soy flour have materialized, including some on-the-spot orders at trial venues.  Thus, U.S. soy flour exports to Turkey increased from nil to 449 MT in 2007.

Use of U.S. soy flour increases the volume of bread, thus making it more economical to produce, while at the same time improving nutritional quality.  Other advantages of soy flour use include better crust color, increased shelf life, more uniform size and better aroma.

Texturised Soy Protein (TSP) trials are also being carried out.  In Turkey, there exists a great potential for the use of TSP in meat applications, especially in the fast-food and catering industries.  ASA-IM consultants regularly visit various companies in Turkey, to demonstrate the several applications of TSP, such as for meat balls (where TSP can be used up to 50%), thus reducing cost while improving nutrition.  This is particularly important for companies that offer luncheons to their large cadres of works; in Istanbul alone 3,000,000 such luncheons are served daily.

In Jordan, soy flour is being extensively used at the large Jawad Bakery and, as a result of extensive demonstration efforts, the Jordanian army has also begun to use soy flour in its breads and, further, soy-containing flour is used in school feeding programs.

An Introduction to Soy Foods*

Approximately 10% of the world's soybean crop is used directly for human food, and an astonishing number of foods are made from this bean.

Soy foods are those made from soybean and may be divided into four classes: soy ingredients, traditional soy foods, second-generation soy foods, and foods where soy is used as a functional ingredient.

Soy ingredients include unprocessed soybeans, soy flour (defatted and full fat), soy concentrates, soy isolates, texturized vegetable soy protein, and hydrolyzed soy protein.  Traditional soy foods include soy milk, tofu, tempeh, natto, miso and say sauce.  Second-generation soy foods include meat extenders, soy burgers, soy sausage, imitation chicken and soy cheese.  Foods in which soy is used as a functional ingredient include baked goods to which soy flour is added. 

Source: Hendrick and Murphy, 2001.

The Soy Food Market*

According to Euromonitor International, global retail value sales of total packaged food was US$ 1,662 billion in 2007 and was expected to reach US$ 1,785 billion in 2008.

In recent years, factors such as health, convenience, portability, choice and availability has driven growth in the global packaged food market.

Consumer health consciousness also underpinned the enduring popularity of "functional" packaged food, such as probiotic and bio drinking yoghurts, reduced fat dairy products, sugar-free gum and soy milk drinks.

In developed markets, such as Western Europe, North America and Australasia, consumers seek food products offering added-value benefits such as convenience, functionality, better health and indulgence while in developing markets, such as Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, increased choice and availability of packaged food derives from market liberalization, improved distribution networks, and global manufacturer consolidation.

In Africa and the Middle East, key factors expected to contribute to growth of over 26% include population growth, demographic changes, such as the increasing proportion of working women, and multinational investment and joint ventures in the region. The achievement of enduring political and economic stability in the region will also provide a further boost to packaged food sales.

In case of soy foods, according to Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., the global soy foods market is forecast to experience healthy growth and reach over $55 billion by 2015.  Emerging demand for soy foods is primarily a result of the growing demand for nutritious diets among health conscious consumers.

Over the years, soy foods have moved away from small natural food stores to mainstream food products, buoyed by improvement in taste and product innovations. Popularization of soy foods is mainly due to health promoting qualities or disease prevention benefits. The increase in the aged population represents a major driver for improving the growth of the soy foods market. An aging population also influences the commercial viability of soy products with, for example, an increased concern for major disorders such as heart diseases. In addition, soy proteins are alternatively used as meat substitute that encourages older consumers to use soy products.

The global soy foods market is dominated by Asia-Pacific, with sales estimated at US$10.2 billion, as stated by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.  North America and Europe account for nearly 49% of the global soy food sales. The soy food market in the United States is projected to reach US$4.4 billion by 2010.

Traditionally, soybeans have been used to obtain vegetable oil and animal feed.  However, of late, the whole soybean is being increasingly used as direct human food also.  Demand for whole soybeans as direct food is registering a healthy growth rate in Asian countries, where soybean has been a natural ingredient of daily diet for years.  Western countries, on the other hand, are also showing signs of growing acceptance towards whole soybeans as direct food beyond crushing, though historically they have been using it mainly in crushed form, as soy protein products and soy foods.  The soy Oil market in Asia-Pacific is projected to register a CAGR of 7.4% over the period 2001-2010.

As soy gains popularity and soy products increase in number, the soy market continues to experience many remarkable changes.  A few products catching on in popularity are soy dairy products, soy snacks such as soy chips, nuts and protein bars.  Rising popularity of soy snacks is attributed to consumers' need/desire for healthy and convenient snacks. Companies are increasingly turning towards soy products addressing women health. Several soy supplement manufacturers have introduced unique formulations, including breakfast cereals and bars marketed as rich sources of soy protein.  This is one way in which consumption trends of most women in western countries have changed considerably in recent years.

One of the major forces that drives soy foods market growth and consumer interest in using soy as food has been the medical discovery about the health benefits of soy.  For many years, soybeans had been primarily identified with their high protein and oil concentration.  Yet, for the past about two decades there has been much interest among medical researchers in studying the health benefits of direct human consumption of soybeans as food.  Thousands of studies have been conducted, and many are ongoing, to discover the role of soy foods in preventing and treating chronic diseases.  Epidemiological human as well as animal studies have shown that soy foods can reduce the incidence of breast, colon, and prostate cancers; heart disease; osteoporosis; and menopausal symptoms.  Among the many soy components examined, soy protein and isoflavones exhibit the most promise as the source of the health benefits of soy.  These findings about the health benefits of soy have become a powerful message for improving the image of soy as food, increasing consumer interest in soy foods and soy-enriched foods, and spurring production and sales of these food products.

Source:  Euromonitor International, 2008, Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA), Liu, 2004.

Glossary

Soya, Soy: A legume, Glycine max (L) Merrill.  "Soya" ("Soy" in the United States), may be used to describe the entire plant, crop or category of products derived from soybeans.

Soybean:  Seed of the soy plant, Glycine max (L) Merrill. 

Soy foods:  Term for foods made from soybean.

Soy complex:  Generally, a futures trading term used to refer collectively to the soybean as well as major commodity components, meal and oil.

Soy flour:  Flour produced from soybean seeds that have been hulled and are then ground into a fine granulation.

Defatted soy flour:  Finely granulated flour obtained by grinding hulled soybeans after oil extraction.

Enzyme active soy flour:  Flour produced from defatted soybeans that have been processed in such a manner as to preserve the activity of the enzyme lipoxidase (lipoxygenase).

Full-fat soy flour:  Flour obtained from hulled soybeans and retains all of the original fat content of the soybean.

Lecithinated soy flour:  Flour whose normal lecithin content of 0.5 to 1.5% has been augmented to 15% in order to increase its emulsifying properties.

Soy grits:  They are identical to soy flours: the only difference is larger particle size. 

Soy protein concentrate:  Protein produced by extraction of sugars, soluble carbohydrate material, mineral matter and other minor constituents from defatted soy flour.

Soy protein isolate:  Protein that is isolated from soybeans by various methods and often modified chemically or enzymatic ally to impart to it certain desirable functional properties.

Soy milk:  A protein-rich, milky liquid typically obtained from the soaking and grinding of whole soybeans with water, or from hydrating whole, full-fat soy flour, cooking the resultant slurry, and filtering all or part of the soy pulp or fiber from the cooked liquid.

Soy nuts, roasted:  Whole soybeans that have been soaked in water and then baked until browned.

Soy oil, fully refined:  The edible oil produced from crude or degummed soy oil that has been treated with diluted alkali solution (caustic refining) or neutralization, treated with absorbent clay materials (bleaching) and subjected to steam distillation at high temperature under vacuum (deodorizing).

Soy bran:  Soy ingredient which is produced by toasting and grinding the seed coat portion of the soybean. 

Textured vegetable protein:  Soy protein (or soy in conjunction with other vegetable proteins such as pea, wheat or rice) that has been textured either by spinning in into a fiber and then combining the fiber in layers to achieve the desired texture, or by a thermoplastic extrusion process.  TVP® is a registered trademark of ADM.

Source: Soya & Oilseed Bluebook, 2008; Pyler, 1994; Endres, 2001.

Links to Soy Food-related technical publications

Anderson, J.W., Smith, B.M., Moore, K.A., and Hanna, T.J.  Soy foods and health promotion, in Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs in Health Promotion.  Watson, R.R., Ed., CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2001.  www.crcpress.com

Berk, Z.  Technology of Production of Edible Flours and Protein Products from Soybeans. FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 97, Rome, Italy, 1992.  www.fao.org/documents

CAC, Codex General Standard for Soy Protein Products, Codex Stan 175-1989, Codex Alimentarius Commission, Rome, Italy.  www.codexalimentarius.net

Dubois, D.K. Soy Products in Bakery Foods, Technical Bulletin. Volume II, Issue 9, American Institute of Baking, Manhattan, KS, USA, 1980.  www.aibonline.org

Endres, J.G. Soy Protein Products: Characteristics, Nutritional Aspects, and Utilization. AOCS Press, Champaign, IL, USA, 2001. www.aocs.org/press

Farnworth, E.R., Ed., Handbook of Fermented Functional Foods, Second Edition,
CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2008.  www.crcpress.com

Fukushima, D.  Soy proteins, in Proteins in Food Processing.    Yada, R.Y., Ed., CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2004.  www.crcpress.com

Kinselle, J.E. Functional properties of soy proteins. J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc., 56, 242, 1979.  www.aocs.org/press/journals.cfm

Liu, K.  Soybeans as Functional Foods and Ingredients.  CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2005.  www.crcpress.com

Liu, K.  Fermented soy foods: An Overview, in Handbook of Food and Beverage Fermentation Technology.  Liu, K. et. al., Eds., CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2004.  www.crcpress.com

Liu, K., Ed., Soybeans: Chemistry, Technology, and Utilization.  Chapman & Hall, New York, NY, USA, 1997.  www.crcpress.com

Stauffer, C.E. More concentrated sources of soy protein in baking examined. Milling & Baking News, January 23, 2001. www.bakingbusiness.com/mbn

Stauffer, C.E. Beneficial Soy, Baking & Snack. 26, 51, 2004.  www.bakingbusiness.com/bs

Sugano, M.  Soy in Health and Disease Prevention.  CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2005.  www.crcpress.com

Riaz, M.N., Ed., Soy Applications in Food.  CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2005.  www.crcpress.com

Riaz, M.N. Textured Soy Protein as an Ingredient, in Proteins in Food Processing.  Yada, R.Y., Ed., CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2004.  www.crcpress.com

Yoneya, T.  Fermented Soy Products: Tempeh, Nattos, Miso, and Soy Sauce, in Handbook of Vegetable Preservation and Processing.   Hui, Y.H. et. al., Eds., CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2003.  www.crcpress.com

For further information on the ASA-IM Middle East Soy Foods Program, you may contact:
In Egypt:  Dr. Mohamed Sherif msherif@asaimmea.org
In Turkey:  Mr. Sirri Kayhan skayhan@asaimmea.org