WISHH News

Soy Wheat-Flour Trials Succeed in Central Asia Through North American Millers' Association and World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH)

The old adage says that man does not live by bread alone.  Field trials in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan just proved that soy is an excellent addition to bread and other wheat-based foods. The trials showed that soy provides much-needed protein in bread and many other foods that are staples in the diets of millions of people who have little opportunity to get protein from other sources.

The North American Millers’ Association (NAMA) sent two food technologists to Tajikistan in late September and early October in cooperation with the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health, the National Soybean Research Laboratory and the World Food Programme (WFP). The trials provide further support for greater use of soy in food assistance programs that use millions of bushels of wheat each year.

"Adding soy flour to wheat foods is an excellent way to help provide a complete nutritional package for good health and for children to grow properly,” said Paul Green, International Trade Consultant of the NAMA. "These field trials in Tajikistan are one step in a broad-reaching effort to provide greater nutrition through food assistance programs throughout the world. We look forward to using blended/fortified grain foods as an essential element in improving the lives of people in Southern Africa, Asia and many other places." 

Tajikistan gained its independence from the Former Soviet Union in 1991. Since then it has experienced three changes in government and a five-year civil war. According to the World Bank, two-thirds of the population is at poverty levels. Nearly half of the children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition. Many people depend on international food assistance from the WFP and Private Voluntary Organizations, like Save the Children and Care. These organizations use tons of wheat flour in school lunch programs, yet protein and other nutritional deficiencies are still common.

“The WFP is interested in soy-fortified flour as a potential way of enhancing the nutritional value of the foods we distribute. The flour has a higher protein content than regular wheat flour and is fortified with vitamins and minerals, which is important for populations that don’t have access to vitamin-rich foods,” said Andrew Thorne-Lyman, Public Health Nutritionist, WFP Headquarters.

WFP staff worked directly with National Soybean Research Laboratory (NSRL) research technologists to conduct the field trials in a variety of conditions ranging, from school kitchens to fire-fed clay ovens to commercial bakeries. Archer Daniels Midland Company had provided the 12 percent soy and 88 percent wheat flour that could increase the protein content of foods by up to 40 percent. The goal was to see how U.S. soy-fortified wheat flour would perform in local conditions and how well it would integrate into foods that are already well received. Their findings could give WFP, Save the Children and similar organizations confidence in the fortified product to help provide complete nutrition in their assistance programs in Tajikistan, and likely other Central Asian countries.

The results were positive both in taste tastes as well as ease of use in breads and noodles for soup. In school trials, most children preferred the buns made with soy flour. When NSRL staff questioned why some children were saving the bread, they learned that these children wanted to take the bun home to a younger sibling who did not have access to a school meal program.

Following the trials in Tajikistan, WFP associate Wafa Sidahmed has now taken another 70 pounds of the soy-flour from ADM to Afghanistan where more than 9 million people are receiving U.S. food assistance. Further trials are slated for Pakistan.

“Research trials like this verify the amazing potential that soy has to do good,” said WISHH Program Director Jim Hershey. “The WISHH program is getting greater international recognition for these new uses of soy, particularly value-added products like soy flour.”

In addition to support from the United Soybean Board and the American Soybean Association, the WISHH program has received funding from state soybean organizations in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and soybean producers from the Northeastern United States. More information about WISHH is available at www.wishh.org