Enifer has officially filed for EU Novel Food authorization for their mycoprotein ingredient PEKILO. The move comes as part of their decades-long journey for PEKILO®, which has been studied for potential human consumption since the late 1970s.
As the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) begins evaluating the application, Enifer is also pursuing additional regulatory approvals like Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in the United States and novel food approval in Singapore.
In January 2024, the Finnish government’s public organisation to support foreign investors and entrepreneurs, Business Finland, had conditionally approved a recycling and reuse investment grant of more than €12 million for Enifer to build its first commercial-scale PEKILO mycoprotein ingredient factory.
The funding comes from the European Union NextGenerationEU recovery instrument, which will support building their first-of-its-kind industrial facilities, promoting the reuse and recycling of industrial by-products and waste streams to align with EU’s circular economy action plan and the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland.
PEKILO®, a feed ingredient with over 20 years of history, was shown to be suitable for human nutrition in key studies, including a notable 1984 MIT study.
However, in the 1990s, its development was stalled due to technical challenges and a lack of available raw materials. Now, Enifer is taking steps to revive and advance the work of the scientists who first recognized its potential.
The PEKILO® fermentation process, developed by Finnish forest industry engineers in the 1970s, was the world’s first commercial mycoprotein production process, converting forest industry by-products into sustainable feed protein for the domestic market from 1975 to 1991.
