Food Ingredients First publishes article about Terra Ingredients by AgMotion’s Microbial Reduction Program
MINNEAPOLIS, May 15, 2019 — Terra Ingredients by AgMotion™, a leading supplier of organic ingredients for consumer packaged goods (CPG) and feed markets, today announced that its chemical-free Microbial Reduction Process (MRP) has been third-party validated.
Terra’s products include top-shelf flaxseed, milled flax, fonio, chickpeas, lentils, and other pulses, grains, and oilseeds.
Terra offers the highest level of microbial reduction in the industry, with a validated 5-log kill-step on pathogens such as Listeria, Salmonella, Coliforms, and yeast and mold, to create the safest possible ready-to-eat ingredients. This optional process is ideal for higher risk ingredients to help companies ensure their customers’ safety and satisfaction.
“A recall, whether voluntary or not, is a huge negative for any brand,” said Peter Carlson, director of Terra Ingredients, LLC. “We can significantly reduce that risk by putting those ingredients through our MRP. Brands will have increased peace-of-mind that they won’t have to go through a recall.”
Terra’s MRP is available as an add-on process for ingredients purchased from Terra and for toll processing of customer-provided ingredients. Terra’s products include top-shelf flaxseed, milled flax, fonio, chickpeas, lentils, and other pulses, grains, and oilseeds. Products are pasteurized at Terra’s affiliate company, Stone Mill LLC, located in Richardton N.D., to provide consumers wholly-integrated, farm-to-FSMA ingredients. As pioneers in specialty grain cleaning, Stone Mill has been growing and processing whole ingredients since 1987.
“Our largest ingredient is flax, which is very high in oil content,” said Carlson. “Oil by its nature is less stable, changeable, and more subject to oxidation and rancidity. We picked this technology because it maintains the original product characteristics and is a better alternative to chemical-based or infrared kill-step solutions. It’s a very advantageous system for both flaxseed and chia.”
Terra’s proprietary MRP process uses controlled pressure steam sterilization to naturally eliminate pathogens while preserving the organoleptic properties – color, texture and taste – of ingredients.
Carlson added that end users cannot rely upon testing raw agricultural commodities (RAC) for pathogens, as testing has provided a false sense of security for brands. “You’re looking for that needle in the haystack and just because you don’t find it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there,” he said. “If you want to be sure, you have to pasteurize it.”
For more information about Terra and to learn about their upcoming roasting capabilities, contact the Terra Team at www.terraingredients.com.
About Terra Ingredients
Terra Ingredients, LLC is a leading supplier of organic and non-GMO ingredients to the consumer packaged goods and animal feed markets. Terra brings value to its customers, suppliers and partners by creating sustainable, safe and traceable supply chains for organic and non-GMO flax, beans, pulses and grains around the world. Operating on five continents, Terra Ingredients was started in 2000 as AgMotion Specialty Grains and today is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AgMotion, Inc. based in Minneapolis, MN.
About Stone Mill
Stone Mill Stone is the industry leader in purifying raw agricultural commodities for the finest food-grade products. Stone Mill provides top-grade organic and non-GMO products with a passionate commitment to transparency and strict identity preservation standards. Their state-of-the-art, FSMA-ready processing, packing, and distribution center also offers microbial reduction capabilities. A pioneer of organic food processing, Stone Mill has been family-owned and operated from Richardton, North Dakota since 1987.
