Leveraging enzyme use helps reach sustainability targets

BACK TO ALL NEWS

Leveraging enzyme use helps reach sustainability targets

13 Sep 2025

Maddie Lambert

Maddie Lambert is a copywriter and editor from Joplin, MO. She graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English – literary studies. When she’s not poring over the magazine or lost in the pages of a new novel, you can find Maddie exploring her local bookstores, spending time with her husband, or sharing her latest literary discoveries with fellow book enthusiasts.

LAS VEGAS — With the global population projected to reach 10 billion by 2050, food production levels need to increase by 50% to meet the growing demand. But to feed the burgeoning population, the commercial baking industry faces formidable challenges to do so sustainably.

From production to consumption, the food system contributes substantially to greenhouse gas emissions. Mitigating climate change within the food loss and waste scope requires a concerted effort, and bread production in particular plays a vital role in this space.

Sivakumar Pattathil, senior lead scientist at Lallemand, dove into how bread waste represents a significant environmental sustainability challenge in his IBIEducate session, Leveraging Enzyme Power as Strategies to Meet Global Environmental Sustainability Targets of the Baking Industry at IBIE 2025, held in Las Vegas.

Pattathil highlighted that as a global food staple, more than 100 million tons of bread are produced annually, with more than 1 million tons wasted due to shorter shelf life and overproduction. On the transportation side, handling the ingredients — particularly sugar, gluten and water — contributes to the global warming potential in the wheat-to-bread supply chain.

According to Pattathil, food manufacturers should be implementing robust and sustainable practices, including enzymatic solutions.

“Enzymes are biological catalysts,” he said. “They are natural organic molecules that are biodegradable. Enzymes do their job, come back clean and increase process efficiency, and thus reduce resource usage.”

But, at the same time, food manufacturers need to balance the demand for better-for-you breads and baked goods. And this, Pattathil emphasized, was also a space for enzymes to shine.

“Enzymes can be used in sugar reduction,” he said. “Glucoamylases further break down glucose that is readily available as fermentation power for yeasts.”

Enzymes offer solutions for common challenges, extending the freshness and shelf life of baked goods as well as lowering gluten and sugar content.

“As natural, clean-label process aids, enzymes function in an environmentally sustainable manner,” he concluded. “They’re eco-friendly tools that promote sustainable baking by reducing bake time and conserving water.”

Advertisement

BACK TO ALL NEWS