Source Food Technology Announces New Cooking Oil to Make Fried Foods Healthier

Business Wire, Feb 16, 2005

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- In Breakthrough for U.S. Restaurants and Foodservice Companies, Technology Licensed from Brandeis University Helps Mitigate the Absorption of Cholesterol

While restaurants and foodservice companies are under growing pressure to make foods healthier, Source Food Technology, Inc., a provider of nutritionally-advanced cooking oils, announced today that it has developed Nextra Gold(TM), a cooking oil designed to help prevent the absorption of cholesterol present in fried meats.

Developed using technology licensed from Brandeis University, Nextra Gold has no trans fats, lasts longer than conventional oils, and employs a modest level of an ingredient from plants, phytosterols, which have been heralded by the American Heart Association for their cholesterol-fighting abilities.

"Rather than asking Americans to change their eating habits, we believe that food products should be made healthier," says Hank Cardello, Chairman and CEO of Source Food Technology. "Nextra Gold allows people to continue eating the foods they love, like French fries and chicken fingers, without suffering from the dangers of added trans fats from frying oils or the cholesterol present in fried meat products. Nextra Gold is truly a breakthrough for the US food industry, and it will help to improve the Standard American Diet."

Nextra Gold is a vegetable-based cooking oil and is complementary to Source Food's first product, Nextra, a tallow-based cooking oil with similar benefits, which was awarded the Master Chef's Seal of Excellence in 2004 at the National Restaurant Association's annual trade show. In 131 separate product application tests, Nextra was deemed superior overall to leading commercial oils when examined for flavor, texture, stability and oil absorption.

"Though we've known about the benefits of phytosterols for some time, the challenge has been to incorporate them into cooking oils, where they can assist with stabilizing the oil during heating," says K.C. Hayes, the Brandeis University biology professor who developed the technology behind Nextra and has studied the effect of dietary fats on cholesterol for 35 years. "The amount of phytosterols in Nextra Gold has been designed to neutralize the cholesterol present in fried foods."

Source Food Technology has attracted luminaries from the US restaurant industry to its Board of Directors. "Nextra Gold presents a real win-win for the American foodservice industry," says Board Member Burton 'Skip' Sack, Chairman/Partner of Classic Restaurant Concepts, one of the original franchisees of Applebee's and current Chairman of the National Restaurant Association. "Consumers are pushing for healthier foods at restaurants, and this product will help restaurants meet that demand quickly, effectively and affordably."

Nextra Gold will be available to restaurants and companies working in the foodservice industry by the end of Q1, 2005. The company also plans to roll out other nutritionally advanced oils and shortenings, such as Omega-3 fish oils and a nutritionally-advanced baking oil.

ABOUT SOURCE FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Source Food Technology, Inc., a privately held company based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, specializes in the development and marketing of nutritionally advanced oils for the commercial food industry. Its patented technologies, developed by Brandeis University and General Mills, produce healthier oil products without the impurities created by processing technologies such as hydrogenation, while offering superior performance and taste. For more information, visit www.nextraoil.com.