by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

Introduction
Growing 21st century interest and investment in renewable energy sources and biodegradable products mean that the food industry, as well as the pharmaceutical, textile, paper, and biomedical industries, is becoming greener, too. A major reason for this shift is the corn protein, zein, (pronounced “ZEE-in”). A major zein scientist told The VRG that zein is a “plastic protein with huge potential.”

Zein is considered Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and so can be used in food. Some of its characteristics that make it appealing in many different food applications described in this article include its ability to: form films and coatings; resist grease; act as a water vapor barrier; act as an oxygen barrier; resist microbial contamination; and be non-allergenic. Zein is considered renewable and biodegradable. Zein is of poor nutritional value as a protein source.

History and Uses of Zein
Zein was first identified and isolated from corn in 1821. Commercial production didn’t begin until the late 1930s and lasted only twenty years, until it was replaced mostly by cheaper petrochemical-based substances (for example, plastics, polyurethane varnishes, and nylon that typically cost less than $1/lb). At its height, zein was used in the manufacture of fiber, adhesives, and binders (for example, in ink).

The first major commercial use for zein, however, was as a coating. During World War II, when shellac (produced by an insect) was in short supply, zein was used as its replacement: in lacquers, varnishes, and coatings. Zein was commonly used as a floor coating for steamship engine rooms because of its durability and resistance to grease. Sometimes, zein was mixed with rosin (derived from trees or plants). A zein-rosin floor coating had improved resistance and remained glossy longer than shellac-covered floors.

However, zein would sometimes form a gel and not be usable as a coating. Despite chemical modifications that made zein remain in liquid form and not form a gel, 1950s consumers showed a stronger preference for shellac in spite of the fact that the shellac cost substantially more than zein at the time.

A quality assurance manager at a shellac company told The VRG that the 2010 lac resin (i.e., the raw material of shellac) harvest was particularly bad due to climate conditions and has doubled the price of shellac, (to ~$7/lb.) . Currently, zein is even more expensive than shellac per pound (~$10-$20/lb.), according to a zein company, but not so considering that only half as much zein is used as shellac for the same application. Scientists at several companies told The VRG that increasing supply of zein due to corn extraction improvements is predicted to make zein more price-competitive.

Zein was also frequently used in the mid-20th century to coat pharmaceutical tablets because of its ability to form films and resist microbes. It is still widely used today for this purpose, usually labeled as “vegetable protein” on a pill bottle. Several zein scientists in private industry and in government told The VRG that zein should continue to play a major role in the pharmaceutical industry.

During its peak, zein was also used to coat foods, such as fortified rice. A senior scientist at a major bioethanol company told The VRG that today there is interest in zein as a rice coating for use in rice-containing premixes in order to make cooking times for all ingredients in the premix more uniform.

Zein was also used to coat nuts (to prevent rancidity), fruit (to prevent mold growth and decrease dryness), and candy (as a protective film) in the 1940s-1950s. At the time, zein was believed to be equal or superior to shellac in terms of gloss and moisture resistance in candy. Today shellac or vegetable wax is more common in fruit, nuts and candy. More recently, there has been some work done with zein as a coating for tomatoes, because it delays color change, maintains firmness, and reduces weight loss during storage.

Grease resistance is one of the most important characteristics of zein, making it very useful in the food packaging industry. Zein coatings were, and still are, put on cartons of doughnuts, crackers, pies, and cookies. Often the coating consisted of zein, rosin, and other substances.

The VRG spoke with Dr. Nicholas Parris who has done much work with zein as a food packaging coating. Waxed paper boxes (such as those used for frozen foods) are not presently recyclable, because it is difficult to separate the paraffin wax (a petrochemical) from the paper fiber without damaging machinery. Parris was able to accomplish this on a test scale easily and inexpensively ($1/lb.) when zein was used along with corn lipid (i.e., fat) molecules known as free fatty acids (FFA). According to Parris, the lipid in the zein-lipid mixture replaced the paraffin and other petrochemical-based substances used to make wax paper and wax-coated packaging. In the mixture, the zein resisted grease and the fatty acids repelled water. Boxes coated in this fashion would not only be biodegradable; they would be also recyclable.

According to two zein companies, zein is expected to become common as a chewing gum base in the near future. One company is planning to build an Iowa plant (near the cornfields) for this purpose. Another new use for zein may be as a food coating to reduce fat absorption in high-fat foods.

Improvements in Zein Extraction from Corn
Zein is considered a “value-added” co-product of bioethanol production. This means that zein, if it is a marketable co-product of a process intended to make biofuel, could substantially lower the production cost of that biofuel. This is desired by (1) bioethanol companies because it increases their profits; and (2) all driving consumers paying for gasoline.

One of the reasons that zein is expensive is that it is traditionally extracted from corn gluten meal, an expensive byproduct of the corn industry. The corn gluten meal is produced by a wet-milling process that separates the oil, starch, protein, and fiber components of corn. In this process only 5% of the corn becomes corn gluten meal. In this process, sulfur dioxide, a very potent chemical, is used. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), approximately 36% of total bioethanol production comes from the wet-milling operation.

Approximately sixty-four percent of fuel ethanol, however, is produced by the “dry grind” method. This method yields dried distiller’s grains, (DDGs), all the non-starch components of corn, equivalent to 28% of the corn processed. In bioethanol production today, there is approximately twice as much DDGs produced per year in the US as compared to corn gluten meal. Finding and perfecting a method to extract zein from DDGs is therefore more cost efficient for large scale production

POET, the largest bioethanol company in this country, which uses a dry grind process, does not use sulfur dioxide to separate out the zein in its “no-cook” (i.e., without heat) ethanol production. DDGs are usually sold as cheap animal feed. Now, DDGs are being re-routed and used to extract value-added co-products such as zein. Two zein scientists told the VRG about research being done to incorporate DDGs, which become nutritional sources of protein after zein is removed, into breads.

Much research is being done to perfect the extraction of zein from DDGs. A method to extract the zein using ethanol at a bioethanol plant is more cost effective than producing zein from corn gluten meal at an urban plant simply because two needed materials (corn and ethanol) are present. After some ethanol produced in the plant as fuel is diverted to extract the zein, this ethanol is separated and recycled back into the stream of production, eventually becoming part of the total ethanol yield at the plant.

Many refinements have occurred in the dry grind process to extract zein, including techniques used to decolorize and deodorize it by physical separation methods, making the final product purer and more abundant than before. Another technique, the COPE (corn oil and protein extraction) process developed by the University of Illinois, has been licensed to Prairie Gold, a Midwest company. The University of Nebraska is also developing its own method of zein extraction. A few bioethanol companies are actively conducting further research as well.

Conclusion
The current trend toward biofuels and its concomitant production of value-added, corn-based ingredients, all of which are biodegradable and annually renewable, means that “old’ uses for zein may become popular again. Zein as a replacement for shellac is just one example, used as a coating on produce, nuts, and candy.

Zein could also be used as a coating on disposable diapers, bed sheets or tablecloths. Zein may be used to replace a host of petrochemical-based products in the form of soda bottles, plastic bags, foam cups, etc., and is considered better than corn starch-based products. New food uses for zein include zein as a chewing gum base. New agricultural uses include zein as a mulch or fertilizer coating or as an edible hay bale wrapper. New biomedical uses include zein as a component in tissue scaffolding needed for skin and bone regeneration.

Consumer demand and economic necessity will drive the new markets for corn-based products such as zein as well as biofuels.

For more information on shellac, see http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php#lac-resin
For more information, on ingredients, visit http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php
and sign up for VRG’s e-mail newsletter at http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/
To support VRG’s ingredient research, donate at
http://www.vrg.org/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4
Or
https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

From The Humane Society of the United States:

U.S. Senate Passes Truth in Fur Labeling Act
President Obama Urged to Quickly Sign Bill into Law

WASHINGTON (Dec. 8, 2010) — The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund applaud the U.S. Senate for unanimously approving an important bipartisan bill to protect consumers and animals. The Truth in Fur Labeling Act (H.R. 2480), which passed the House of Representatives in July and now goes to President Obama’s desk, will bring much-needed accuracy and disclosure to fur products.

The HSUS and HSLF expressed their thanks to the sponsors of this legislation—Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and David Vitter, R-La., and Reps. Jim Moran, D-Va., Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., and Ed Whitfield, R-Ky.—for their leadership on this critical animal welfare and consumer protection issue, and to House and Senate leaders for working to bring the bill over the finish line in Congress.

The legislation closes a loophole in federal law that currently allows some animal fur garments to go unlabeled if the value of the fur is $150 or less, leaving consumers in the dark as to whether they are buying faux or animal fur. HSUS investigations have found jackets trimmed with animal fur being sold without labels or falsely advertised as “faux fur” across the country.

“Many consumers prefer to avoid buying and wearing animal fur, and everyone deserves to have accurate information to make informed purchasing choices,” said Michael Markarian, chief operating officer for The HSUS. “The Truth in Fur Labeling Act will protect consumers by requiring all garments containing animal fur to be accurately labeled. We applaud the U.S. Senate and House for passing this common-sense legislation and we urge President Obama to quickly sign it into law.”

Under current law, an estimated 13 percent of animal fur garments sold in the United States do not have to be labeled for fur content because the value of the fur is $150 or less, even if the fur is dyed pink or blue or otherwise processed to look synthetic. The Fur Products Labeling Act, originally passed by Congress in 1951, already requires seven out of every eight fur garments to be labeled with the species of animal and country of origin. The updating of this nearly six-decades-old labeling law will level the playing field, requiring that the remaining fur-trimmed garments meet the same labeling standard. The Federal Trade Commission, consumer organizations, designers, and retailers back this legislation.

Facts:

• Gucci Group, Burberry, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Buffalo Exchange, Overstock.com, Ed Hardy, Victoria Bartlett, Charlotte Ronson, and Andrew Marc, among other retailers and designers, have endorsed closing the fur labeling loophole.
• An HSUS investigation found raccoon dog fur on more than two-thirds of a nationwide sample of fur-trimmed jackets purchased from well-known retailers and designers. Of the raccoon dog fur jackets tested, not a single one properly identified the animal in advertising or labeling, instead calling it such things as faux fur, raccoon, or simply not labeling it at all.
• H.R. 2480 has 171 bipartisan cosponsors in the House, and S. 1076 has 34 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate.
• The Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000 banned the trade in domestic dog and cat fur after an HSUS investigation revealed the gruesome deaths of 2 million dogs and cats a year in China and other parts of Asia for the fur trade and found domestic dog and cat fur for sale in the United States. The HSUS later found domestic dog fur slipping into the country on unlabeled jackets.
• The HSUS testified in favor of the Truth in Fur Labeling Act at a House subcommittee hearing on May 13.

Those interested in this may also be interested in VRG’s Guide to Food Ingredients.

Life insurance is one valuable method to support nonprofit causes such as The Vegetarian Resource Group. You can designate as a beneficiary one organization, many organizations, or a mixture of organizaitons and your family and/or others. Many people who obtained life insurance to make sure the mortgage is paid or kids would make it through college change the designation once the family is older and those responsibilities are completed. To change the beneficiary with the insurance company, you only need the charity’s name, address, and federal tax number.

Beyond life insurance, any of the following assets can have a charity named as a beneficiary: 401(k) employer retirement plan; 403(b) employer retirement plan (for example TIAA/CREF plan); individual retirement accounts of all types such as Roth, traditional IRA, SEP, and Simple; commercial annuities, checking and savings accounts; and brokerage accounts.

Please obtain personal tax and legal advice from your own accountant, lawyer, or other professional.

Thank you to VRG’s Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, who was interviewed during the past few months by these media: Philadelphia Daily News on becoming vegetarian, Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine on children’s vegetarian menus, the Health Direct health and wellness publication, the NPR Science Desk on tips for parents raising vegetarian children, Emerson College TV Station about vegetarianism, Today’s Diet and Nutrition on teen vegetarians, CBS.COM on Chanukah Latkes, and The Washington Post on vegetarian children.

Also kudos to Reed the past few months for teaching a class for 50 nutrition majors on vegetarian pregnancy, completing co-authoring The Dietitian’s Guide to Vegetarian Diets textbook, presenting on Vegan Diets to 50 dietitian and nurses who work for the Maryland WIC program, and presenting a poster session at the American Dietetic Association Annual Meeting.

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group’s ongoing outreach, please make a donation at https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565
or
http://www.vrg.org/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4

Thank you so much.

Date and Time: Sunday, December 12, 2010, 4:30 PM
Location: Hunan Manor, 7091 Deepage Drive, Columbia, Maryland 21045

Seminar Topic: Charitable Giving: Creating a Lasting Impact

DINNER:

Vegetarian Spring Roll
Vegetarian Chicken with Mixed Vegetables
Vegetarian Beef with Black Pepper Sauce
Vegetarian Crispy Fish Steak Hunan Style
Eggplant in Hot Garlic Sauce
Rice Noodles
Oranges

Menu subject to change.

Sponsored by Avraham Rappaport, CLTC of Steinharter Insurance Services.

THIS EVENT IS FREE, BUT PLEASE RESERVE TODAY IN ADVANCE AS THERE IS LIMITED SEATING. E-MAIL [email protected] OR CALL THE VEGETARIAN RESOURCE GROUP AT 410-366-8343 MONDAY TO FRIDAY.

Vegans Know How to Party

OVER 465 VEGANS RECIPES, INCLUDING DESSERTS, APPETIZERS, AND MAIN DISHES
By Chef Nancy Berkoff, RD

Purchase a copy for $25.00 here
**And for a limited time, click here to order 4 books for $50 – a great holiday gift for friends and family!**

In this 384-page 8 1/2 X 11 book with color photographs, Chef Berkoff shows you how to put on a party for vegans and those who enjoy great food. Vegan Desserts include pies, tarts, cakes, cupcakes, quick breads, muffins, sauces, frostings, cookies, parfaits, puddings, cobblers, frozen treats, and more.

Nancy gives us lessons on preparing vegan “ricotta,” veloute, demiglaze, and bèchamel. Sections include Using Vegan Ingredients, Basic Party Planning, Egg Substitutes, Napkin Folding, and Hiring Entertainment. Additional chapters feature Entertaining Children, Cooking for A Crowd, treats, Secrets of Cooking Large Amounts of Foods, and Sample Recipe Conversion from a small recipe to a large recipe and visa versa.

Working with a Caterer includes finding a caterer, catering concerns, helpful hints for vegetarian catering, food safety suggestions, label reading, and upscale menus. Also helpful is Party Planning for People with Diabetes.

Vegans Know How to Party has great recipes, but is certainly a reference book you’ll want to have around to answer all those vegan cooking questions. Your purchase will liven your parties, as well as support vegetarian outreach.

Try:

• maple apple pie
• peach cheesecake
• silky lemon pie
• cherry tarts.

Birthday party basics include vanilla, moist chocolate, and devil’s food cakes.

For brunches, Nancy starts the day with chocolate raspberry and banana
blueberry muffins. These dessert sauces and icings will spruce up any party:

• vegan caramel sauce
• cream cheese spread with fruit
• vegan buttercream frosting
• coconut frosting
• lemon frosting
• vegan pastry cream.

Cookie to the Max with:

• glazed ginger-almond cookies
• apricot and raisin bars
• fudge without the oven cookies
• peanut butter and jelly cookies
• rugelach
• sugar cookies
• chocolate chip of course
• pinwheels
• vegan lemon squares
• fudge brownies

Plus you and your guests will enjoy parfaits, trifles, mousse, cobblers, crumbles, crisps, custard, bread puddings, noodle puddings, and chocolate puddings – too many to name. For frozen desserts, Nancy gives us vegan ice cream cake, coconut-cinnamon and peppermint-chocolate frozen treats, and pineapple sorbet.

THERE’S MORE TO A PARTY THAN DESSERTS.
Nancy also shares the basics in this new book like:

• stuffed grape leaves
• baked “chicken” fingers
• chips of all types
• BBQ sauce
• veggie sloppy Joes
• stuffed manicotti
• vegan cheeseball
• raspberry vinaigrette
• ranch dressing
• and numerous other common party dishes…

Appetizers and main dishes span from Arepas, Gulai Daun Bayem (spinach in coconut milk), and pierogi, to asparagus with lime and onion dressing, mustard crusted tofu salad, and Octoberfest roulades. And for winter parties, warm up the guests with Komenymagos Leves (Caraway Seed Soup), Potage Crecy, and Roasted Two Pepper Soup.

A reader contacted us because she noticed that there had been a recent addition of whole milk powder to the ingredients in Green & Black’s dark chocolate bar varieties such as their Mint, Cherry, Hazelnut & Currant, and Maya Gold bars.

The statement on the back of the bars in the UK reads: “The milk in our organic dark chocolate is present because it is currently made on the same production line as our organic milk chocolate. Please visit our website for more information on allergen controls.”

Green & Black’s online FAQ says:

The vegan statement has gone; has the product ever been suitable for vegans?

By definition vegan products contain no ingredients derived from animals within the recipe and this still remains true for Green & Black’s dark chocolate. However as our dark chocolate is made on the same production line as our milk chocolate there is some risk of cross contact. As a result, the desire for clearer allergen labelling now conflicts with the vegan statement and we have reluctantly decided to remove it from our labelling.”

We contacted Green & Black’s and spoke with Sylvia at customer service who said that the system was not showing that there have been any reformulations to the chocolate, but that this might not be entirely up to date.

VRG’s vegan broccoli latke recipe (from The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook) is currently featured on CBS’s Health Blog.

Hanukkah for Healthy Noshers: Broccoli Latke Recipe:

(CBS) Today is the first day of Hanukkah. That means it’s time for Jews to light the menorah and exchange gifts – and gnosh on traditional fare like potato pancakes (latkes).

Ordinary latkes aren’t especially good for you – and it doesn’t help matters when they’re topped with a dollop of sour cream. Not exactly the sort of thing to put a smile on the face of your cardiologist.

But here’s a healthier alternative: broccoli latkes. They’re still fried, but they’re a bit more nutritious, as they include broccoli and a touch of celery seed.

BROCCOLI LATKES

(Serves 5)

1 pound broccoli, chopped into small pieces

2 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and cubed into small pieces

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 cups water

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon oil

Cook all the ingredients (except the oil) in a large covered pot over medium heat for 20 minutes. Drain mixture. Mash ingredients together.

Heat oil in large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Form 10 pancakes. Fry eight minutes on one side. Flip and fry for another five minutes on the other side. Serve Warm.

****

Calories per serving: 216

Fat: 4 g

Total fat as % of Daily Value: 6%

Protein: 4 g

Carbohydrates: 43 g

Dietary fiber: 3.9 g

Recipe courtesy Debra Wasserman, author of The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook.

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

This is in response to questions readers asked The Vegetarian Resource Group:

Q: What is shellac?

A: Shellac is a coating or glaze derived from the hardened, resinous material secreted by the lac insect, much like honey from a bee. Shellac in its raw form, known as “lac resin,” along with lac wax and lac dye, is produced in Southeast Asia. India is the largest producer in the world, yielding 18,000 metric tons of unrefined lac resin annually. Approximately 85% of India’s crop is exported, mostly to European countries, Egypt, and the United States.

According to an article by Ramesh Singh, Department of Zoology at Udai Pratap Autonomous College in India, 300,000 lac insects are killed for every kilogram (2.2 lbs.) of lac resin produced. Approximately 25% of all unrefined, harvested lac resin is composed of “insect debris” and other impurities according to the Shellac Export Promotion Council. The cost of shellac varies according to climatic effects on harvest. An employee of a shellac company told us that due to 2010’s crop failures, the price of lac resin has doubled to approximately $15/kg.

Shellac has GRAS status by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which means that it is generally recognized as safe in foods. If used as a fruit or vegetable coating, it may be labeled as lac resin or as shellac. It is also approved for use in products certified as organic by The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Shellac, in one or more of its various forms, (e.g., bleached, dewaxed, etc.), may be found in a wide variety of products including furniture polish and varnish; aluminum foil coating; paper coating; hairspray, shampoos, perfume, mascara and lipstick; printing inks and paints; pharmaceutical tablets; and agricultural fertilizer (slow-release coating for urea). Readers may note that all forms of shellac, (even “orange shellac” or “lemon shellac” which may connote non-animal origins), are derived from lac resin.

Confectioner’s glaze, the name often used for shellac by candy makers, is composed of approximately 35% shellac (purified lac resin). The rest are volatile organic compounds which evaporate off during manufacture.

In foods, shellac is most commonly used as a coating or glaze on confections, chewing gum, fruit, and coffee beans. Lac dye, red like carmine, (another insect product), may be used as a coloring in foods and beverages.

Q: Which candies are coated with shellac?

A: As a general rule, any hard-coated, shiny candy contains a shellac coating or glaze (M&Ms™ is one notable exception.) Shellac may appear on the label under different names. The two most common ones in use today are “resinous glaze” or “confectioner’s glaze.” In general, all Easter candy (eggs and jelly beans) are coated. Halloween candy (candy corn) is as well.

The VRG contacted many candy manufacturers about shellac. There are many who use it, even on candies that you may not suspect to be coated with it. Below is a partial list. Subscribe to our free email newsletter updates on shellac and other food ingredients. Coming soon: shellac alternatives.

For more information on ingredients, see http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

Confections Containing Shellac

• Hershey’s Whopper’s Malted Milk Balls™
• Hershey’s Milk Duds™
• Nestle’s Raisinettes™
• Nestle’s Goober’s™
• Tootsie Roll Industry’s Junior Mints™ (NOT Tootsie Rolls)
• Tootsie Roll Industry’s Sugar Babies™
• Jelly Belly™ jelly beans, mint crèmes
• Godiva’s™ Dark Chocolate Almond Bar; Dark Chocolate Cherries; Milk Chocolate Cashews; White Chocolate Pearls; Milk Chocolate Pearls. (This is a partial list; consult with Godiva about specific items.)
• Gertrude Hawk’s™ chocolate-covered nuts and raisins; cupcake sprinkles; decorative cake pieces
• Russell Stover’s™ jelly beans; NOT in their chocolate-covered cherries or mint patties
• Skittles™ and Starburst™: no shellac, but they do contain gelatin (an animal-derived ingredient)

The contents of this entry and our other publications, including web information, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on company statements for product and ingredient information. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, information can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research on your own.

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

A reader recently asked The VRG if Chick-fil-A still prepares its Waffle Potato Fries™ in beef tallow as it did a few years ago. We contacted the restaurant chain and spoke with Diane, a Customer Service Representative, who assured us that Chick-fil-A is now using canola oil to cook its fries. This side item is all-plant-based and cooked in a fryer designated for fries only. Patrons may consult the website to find all ingredients listed for this and all other menu items.

Vegetarian and vegan guests at Chick-fil-A will be pleased to learn that this restaurant chain devotes one of its FAQ questions to list items that “they believe” are vegetarian and/or vegan. Chick-fil-A defines the terms “vegetarian” and “vegan” as they are using them. “Vegetarian” is defined as people “who do not eat any meat, poultry, or fish, but include milk and eggs in their diet.” A vegan is defined as a person “who does not eat any foods of animal origin, including ingredients from animal origin.” Patrons should inquire of this restaurant chain about specific items; some may be listed as “vegetarian,” (such as the Waffle Fries™), but are “vegan” according to their definition.