IN Brief:
- Kerry's 10,000m² Leipzig Biotechnology Centre screened 17,500 enzyme candidates during its first operational year.
- The centre established fungal expression capability and moved its ENESYZ discovery platform to cloud infrastructure.
- Acrylerase, an enzyme used to reduce acrylamide in coffee extracts, received a positive EFSA scientific opinion in May rather than October.
Kerry has reported its first-year research milestones at the Biotechnology Centre in Leipzig, Germany, including automated screening of 17,500 enzymes, the introduction of fungal expression capability and the migration of its ENESYZ bioinformatics platform to cloud infrastructure.
The 10,000m² centre brings enzyme discovery and enzyme engineering teams together with fermentation and bioprocess development. It supports food and beverage work alongside separate biotechnology applications, with laboratory screening used to identify enzyme candidates and downstream research assessing whether selected candidates can be produced and used under practical conditions.
The 17,500 figure records enzymes screened in the site’s first operational year. It does not represent an equal number of newly developed commercial enzymes or manufacturing processes. Screening evaluates candidates against selected properties, after which further work is required to establish stability, function, production yield and suitability for the intended industrial application.
Enzymes accelerate specific biochemical reactions and are used in food production for tasks including starch conversion, lactose hydrolysis and modification of processing characteristics. Their behaviour depends on the material being treated and the conditions of the process, particularly acidity, temperature and residence time. An enzyme selected in a laboratory assay may perform differently in a complex food mixture or during a full-scale production run.
Kerry says the Leipzig teams have begun producing enzymes in filamentous fungal cultures for the first time at the centre. Such expression systems use microorganisms to manufacture a chosen protein during fermentation. Developing the production method requires control of organism growth, nutrients, oxygen supply and process conditions, followed by recovery of the enzyme and checks on its activity and purity.
Laboratory expression is distinct from reliable commercial output. Cultivation at larger scale changes mixing, heat removal and oxygen transfer, while recovery processes must deliver consistent material without unacceptable losses. The announcement confirms a new research and production-development capability but does not provide additional industrial enzyme capacity, fermentation yields or the cost of production at Leipzig.
The ENESYZ platform has also been moved to a cloud-based architecture, allowing researchers in Kerry’s wider network to use its bioinformatics capabilities. The system combines next-generation sequencing information with computational methods, including machine learning-assisted directed evolution, to help select and improve enzyme candidates.
Sequence data can be used to compare related enzymes and identify variations worth examining experimentally. Directed evolution involves producing and testing variants to select those with more useful properties. Computational ranking may narrow the set of candidates entering laboratory trials, but it cannot replace the experimental evidence required to demonstrate an enzyme’s performance in a food process.
Links between discovery and process development are particularly important where the target reaction has a narrow operating range. An enzyme that works rapidly at laboratory temperature may lose activity under a factory’s heat-treatment conditions, or its action may be affected by ingredients in the product. Trials must establish whether the treatment achieves a measurable result without compromising the quality of the finished food.
One food application highlighted in Kerry’s anniversary update is Acrylerase, an amidase developed for reducing acrylamide in coffee extracts used to make instant coffee and coffee substitutes. Acrylamide can form during high-temperature processing such as roasting. Unlike measures intended to limit its formation, the enzyme is designed to break down acrylamide after it has been produced.
Amidases catalyse the hydrolysis of amide compounds. In the case assessed by the European Food Safety Authority, the enzyme converts acrylamide into other chemical products, including acrylic acid and ammonia. The safety assessment considered the intended uses and exposure to these products as well as the enzyme preparation itself.
EFSA published a positive scientific safety opinion on the enzyme in May 2026, following adoption of the opinion in April. That is an earlier regulatory milestone, not a new October authorisation created by the Leipzig anniversary. A scientific opinion is also distinct from any subsequent legal authorisation requirements for a food enzyme in the relevant market.
Kerry has reported acrylamide reductions of up to 90% under appropriate conditions and says the treatment is intended to avoid changes to coffee taste and manufacturing yield. Those performance figures are supplier claims; the result in any plant would depend on enzyme dosage, extract composition and the conditions under which the treatment is applied. The Leipzig announcement does not provide fresh independent factory trials.
The centre’s other first-year milestones include the launch of CellTrypase and shipment of Denarase High Salt to 108 customer test sites. Both are described as biopharmaceutical enzyme developments, not food processing products. Their inclusion reflects the range of work undertaken at the centre, rather than additional achievements specifically within food manufacturing.
Kerry says Leipzig hosted more than 400 external visitors across five industry events during its first year. The research infrastructure links candidate identification, enzyme engineering and process development, while its effect on commercial production will be established through individual products and customer qualification. No reduction in time to market or increase in food-enzyme manufacturing output has been quantified for the first year.
