Oobli reports it has received a “no questions” letter from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for monellin, its protein-based sweetener.

This follows Oobli's no questions letter for brazzein from the FDA earlier this year. Oobli focuses on producing sweet proteins to replace sugar in consumables, particularly foods. Produced via fermentation, sweet proteins have no glycemic impact or effect on the gut microbiome. 

Oobli is the first company in the world regulated to sell sweet proteins as a sweetener, with two FDA "no questions" letters, four proteins with self-affirmed FDA “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) status and one protein with FDA FEMA GRAS status.

Food companies and R&D teams— including Grupo Bimbo, one of the largest CPG companies in the world— are working with Oobli to integrate sweet proteins into their product formulations. Plant-based sweet proteins have the potential to replace more than 70% of sugar in the majority of food and beverages such as sodas, baked goods, candies and more. Sweet proteins can also be used to replace or complement other natural sweeteners.

"Having additional sweet proteins on the Oobli platform will enable companies across the globe to focus on ways to reduce sugar without compromising taste,” says Jason Ryder, founder and CTO at Oobli. “It's like having more tools in the toolkit. Food is a complex system, and when we replace sweetness in a food or beverage application, all the ingredients come into play. This is why we're so committed to approaching sweet proteins as a platform; offering more sweetener solutions to our partners."