Rising levels of obesity and physical inactivity have contributed to a growing prevalence of diabetes over the last decades. To better manage blood sugar levels and nutritional needs, health conscious individuals may use a food’s glycemic index (GI) as a guide when choosing what to eat.
Low GI food products refer to carbohydrate containing food that will produce a steady rise in blood glucose instead of sudden spikes in blood sugar from eating high GI food. Persistent blood sugar spikes can lead to health complications such as diabetes and heart disease.
Singapore food tech start-up Bountifood was interested to explore new technologies to create nutritious food products without affecting the taste and texture. It connected with the National University of Singapore (NUS) at TechInnovation 2017 when the latter showcased its food technology solution that could lower the GI of starch-rich food items like bread and rice.
Discussions followed and Boutifood signed an exclusive license with NUS to develop and market the technology in November 2017. A year later, Bountifood returned to TechInnovation 2018 as an exhibitor with Carbolight, its new product which lowers starch digestibility and slows down sugar release.
“Bountifood has unlocked new opportunities through participating at TechInnovation. In-licensing technology from NUS has enabled us to accelerate product development and time-to-market significantly,” said Barnabas Chan, Managing Director of Bountifood.
“In addition, we have collaborated with DayFood Plus Food to incorporate Carbolight into buns that reduce the rate of sugar release from the buns in the body. This product is also exported and sold in Hong Kong. We look forward to developing innovative functional food ingredients that will tackle health-related challenges for Singapore and the world,” he added.
