Published on 2025-10-23
Third Quarter 2015 - A Decade Ago
These were some of the topics covered in the Quarterly Review of Q3-2015 some ten years ago: Begin Extract from Q3-2015
Curdlan is a niche biopolymer produced by Takeda and distributed by Mitsubishi Food Ingredients in the US. Its name is derived from the fact that 'an aqueous suspension will curdle when heated. It has a few limited applications, particularly in meat and gelled imitation food snacks popular in Asia especially Japan. Takeda product literature promotes a blend of curdlan and carrageenan as an egg white replacer (in meat applications?). It is not clear if Takeda's curdlan is produced in Japan or another production location in Asia. Takeda product literature on curdlan is available from IMR upon request. A Chinese producer of curdlan has been identified.
*** Biological Technology Co., Ltd. Address: *** , Shandong Website: www..com.
This company has two factories producing curdlan, one in *** and one in ***City. Surprisingly, prices of Chinese curdlan are not much lower than Japanese curdlan and may even be higher.
Curdlan has been around for many years and has never made a large volume impact on the world of hydrocolloids. At a price of about $25-30.00/kg it is one of the higher priced hydrocolloids. It's unique properties, however, allow it to compete with other high priced hydrocolloids such as agar. It forms thermo reversible gels, or if heated to a higher temperature, irreversible gels. Though high priced, Curdlan is used at lower use levels than competing products, making it cost effective. There is limited capacity and only one non-Chinese producer, ***. End of extract from Q3-2015
2025 Update on Curdlan Curdlan remains a niche hydrocolloid in the US where it has food approval. It awaits EU approval "any day now". The EFSA panel Scientific Safety Evaluation of curdlan was "adopted" on July 24, 2024. with the concluding statement - The Panel concluded that there is no safety concern for the use of curdlan as a food additive at the proposed uses and use levels. The EFSA safety panel opinion was published on September 9, 2024. Until now, however, the proposed E number for Curdlan is not yet found on the official E number listing. There are at least three and probably more than three producers of curdlan in China. The only non-Chinese producer we know of is a Japanese company with production in Indonesia. Chinese curdlan reportedly can meet some but not all of the Title 21 part 172-809 criteria for Curdlan eg lead, heavy metals, nitrogen etc. The full Title 21 specification of Curdlan is HERE. Curdlan shows synergy with carrageenan but also and particularly with Konjac which has a use level limit of 1% A curdlan/konjac gel overcomes this limitation.
Contacts for a Chinese and the only non-Chinese producer/supplier are available to subscribers of The Quarterly Review upon request.
The above is an example of the in-depth coverage of hydrocolloid developments and updates which are found in our custom quarterly reports. A single improved strategic decision pays for the reports many times over. Avoiding a strategic mistake is priceless. Can you afford to be without these reports? If you are not already a subscriber, the subscription/confidentiality agreement is HERE.
EUDR Update The European Commission published proposed amendments to the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) on 21 October 2025 (document link HERE). The EUDR requires that cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya, and wood, along with products derived from them, be fully traceable and proven not to have contributed to deforestation or forest degradation in their country of origin. The rollout of the regulation has faced several delays, and many stakeholders expected another one-year postponement. Instead, the Commission’s proposal offers only a six-month grace period to resolve technical and IT-system bottlenecks in the EU’s new due diligence information platform. The amendment also grants micro-operators a limited extension. Still, larger companies remain on the hook for compliance starting at the end of December 2025 (plus six months) if the proposal is formally adopted. In short, the EUDR is moving forward, with only minor concessions, and companies should treat readiness as a priority rather than an optional consideration
