As the soybean industry gathers today at the annual Soy Symposium, farmers and industry leaders will announce the launch of QUALISOY, a one-of-a-kind agricultural initiative focused on improving the quality and competitiveness of U.S. soybean varieties.

A collaborative effort among the soybean industry, QUALISOY's goals include developing healthier soybeans and soy oil, reducing environmental impacts of livestock production with improved soybean meal, and improving the overall competitiveness of the U.S. soybean industry. The 22-member Board of Directors for QUALISOY includes farmers, researchers, and representatives from multinational seed and chemical companies, regional agricultural companies, processors, food companies, and food and feed industry associations.

Recently, several technology providers have announced the commercialization of soybean varieties with low-linolenic acid. These products will bring healthier soybean oils to the market place because they will be inherently more stable without need for hydrogenation, thus reducing or eliminating trans fatty acids in the resulting processed soybean oil. The products include VISTIVE(TM) from Monsanto, a 1 percent low linolenic variety from Iowa State University, and NUTRIUM(TM) Low Lin from Pioneer®, variety 93M20, developed in partnership by Bunge and DuPont.

The food industry is eagerly anticipating commercial quantities of the new products as they come to market during the next few years. "I think the food industry will embrace these soy-based products as part of the solution to the trans fat problem," said Robert M. Reeves, President of the Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils. "These new products will provide quality fats and oils that will help meet the ever-changing needs of the U.S. food industry."

The implications of these new products are far reaching, since soybean oil accounts for 80 percent of the oil consumed in the United States, by far the most used oil in U.S. food production.

"QUALISOY was created as a means to expedite the development and introduction of enhanced quality soybean traits," said David Durham, QUALISOY chairman and immediate past chairman of the United Soybean Board. "We've long since recognized the value of uniting our industry to share information as we strive toward some common goals, and now we're making that a reality." One of those common goals is to change the fatty acid composition of soybeans to make the oil more naturally stable and eliminate the need for hydrogenation. Liquid soybean oil, which has no trans fat, commonly undergoes partial hydrogenation to make it more suitable for baking and frying applications, but the process also creates trans fatty acids.

Although trans fatty acids account for only two-to-four percent of the average American's total caloric intake, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) likened trans to saturated fat in terms of overall health effects. Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, all food products and dietary supplements bearing a nutritional facts panel that are regulated by the FDA and sold in the United States will be required to list trans fat content.

"Long before FDA's labeling rule, U.S. farmers started exploring options to cultivate crops that would produce healthier oils," said Durham. "Long-term solutions to the trans problem begin on the farm."

In addition, while these low-linolenic varieties are ramping up to larger volumes, the industry is exploring various processing techniques such as interesterification (rearrangement of the fatty acids), blending of semi-solid fats and liquid oils, and increased use of antioxidants to produce reduced trans or trans-free oils. In cooperation with the QUALISOY initiative, researchers will continue to work on developing soybeans with an improved fatty acid profile and functional characteristics.

"Reducing and eliminating trans fats has to be a collective effort involving every industry link," said Durham, "and as one of the first links in that chain, farmers have a responsibility to food manufacturers, and ultimately consumers, to provide the healthiest raw materials available. At the end of the day, that's our goal with QUALISOY."

QUALISOY creates added value to the U.S. soybean industry through collective innovation and commercialization of enhanced compositional traits.