Oobli, the first and only commercial-scale sweet protein technology platform known for its healthy sugar alternatives, announced today that it has received a “no questions” letter from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), confirming that brazzein-54, a sweet-tasting protein naturally occurring in the oubli fruit, is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for use as a sweetener in food and beverages. brazzein-54 joins brazzein-53 and monellin as the third protein on the Oobli platform to gain FDA GRAS status.
As a nature-identical sweet protein platform, Oobli is dedicated to providing a complete suite of plant-derived sweet proteins. Brazzein-54 further expands Oobli’s platform, offering an additional option for food and beverage partners seeking healthier, sugar-free solutions.
“Oobli is changing the future of sweetness through the use of sweet proteins as a replacement for traditional cane sugar and other alternative sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, stevia and erythritol,” said Jason Ryder, Oobli Founder & CTO and Adjunct Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of California, Berkeley. “The oubli fruit sweet protein is one of several sweet proteins that is derived from fruits primarily found in West Africa and other equatorial environments. Sweet proteins are a class of proteins that deliver a sugar-like sweetness but don’t affect blood sugar, insulin, or the gut microbiome.”
Oobli is the first company to receive a “no questions” letter from the FDA for use of the oubli fruit sweet protein as a food ingredient. The company’s brand name and sweet protein platform, Oobli, was inspired by West African villagers who originally described the fruit as “so sweet it makes children forget their mother’s milk.”
“The ‘no questions’ letter from the FDA is further testament to the strong potential that sweet proteins have to disrupt our global dependence on sugar and alternative sweeteners,” said Ali Wing, CEO of Oobli. “The oubli fruit sweet protein can be safely used in a wide range of foods with support from the scientific community and the FDA. It can replace 70% or more of sugar in products such as sodas, teas, baked goods, and more, making the opportunities to reduce our sugar consumption virtually endless.”
Oobli has already introduced a full line of Dark and Milk Chocolates sweetened with Oobli sweet proteins. Now, through partnerships with Ingredion, a global leader in ingredient solutions, and Mexico-based Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest baked goods company, Oobli is bringing its sweet proteins to a broader market with new products set to launch soon.
