Delicious treats reduce food loss
♣VEGHEET

VEGHEET are made using an innovative method of transforming vegetables that are misshapen, damaged, or would otherwise be disposed of for not meeting market standards. As the name implies, they are made from vegetable paste mixed with agar, then stretched and dried into paper-thin sheets. Containing no chemical or food additives, they are processed without losing any of flavor or nutrition of the original vegetables, and they have a long shelf life. These highly versatile vegetable sheets can be used to create wraps for fillings or dissolved to create the base for soups.

VEGHEET sheets in the flavors and colors of the original vegetable.

Microorganism that may save the world
♣Euglena

Displaying the characteristics of both flora and fauna, with chloroplasts as well as flagella used for locomotion, Euglena is a mysterious microorganism that is increasingly popular as a super food containing 59 different nutrients. Euglena can be cultivated through photosynthesis with just light and water and has the potential to help solve environmental problems by absorbing carbon dioxide in the process. It has extremely promising and diverse applications, including in food products such as health supplements and beverages, as well as cosmetics, biofuels, feed, and fertilizers.

Fruit-flavored beverage made with Euglena.

New frontiers in insect-based food
♣Cricket Ramen

As rich in protein as the equivalent weight of beef or pork and easy to raise, crickets as a food are expected to help alleviate the global food crisis. Snacks containing cricket powder and other products have been a hot topic. Now, ramen, the Japanese comfort food, made with crickets is finally on the market. The noodle dough is made with cricket powder. The broth is also made with crickets. The ramen noodles are served in a broth made with crickets and seasoned with cricket-flavored oil and soy sauce made of crickets fermented with malted rice. This savory ramen is packed with umami flavor and tastes similar to shrimp. For those who are reluctant to eat insects, a sip of cricket ramen can lower the hurdle and boost recognition of crickets as a powerful food source.

Left: The ramen at ANTCICADA, a restaurant serving food made from insects, has 160 crickets per serving. (Photo:Kurihara Osamu)
Top right: Soy sauce made by fermenting crickets and rice malt. (Photo:ANTCICADA)
Bottom right: Two species of crickets, Gryllus bimaculatus and Acheta domestica, are used to create the broth. (Photo:ANTCICADA)

Nutritious and delicious
♣Kanzenshoku All-in-One Meals

Kanzenshoku is a food product containing a balanced amount of the nutrients* needed in one meal of a healthy diet. These products are helpful resources for dieters and busy people in the modern world who get their meals efficiently. In the past, the only Japanese kanzenshoku products available were powders that were dissolved in liquid and drunk as a beverage. However, in recent years, a wide variety of these products have been developed to meet the need for something closer to solid food. Shoppers can now choose kanzenshoku in bread, curry, pasta, or a number of other forms they desire.

* Estimated value based on the Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan

Whole wheat flour, low-carb kanzenshoku bread. (Photo: BASE FOOD Inc.)

Simply add hot water to prepare instant curry and microwavable frozen pasta. (Photo: NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS CO., LTD.)