Foodtech start-up Levana Nourishments™ has created a next-generation clean-label nutritional shake that acts as a complete meal replacement. The 100% natural formula combines a short list of gently dehydrated, finely ground plant-based whole foods to deliver a balanced, nutritionally dense, and highly palatable meal replacement. The line of full-meal shakes suits people with special dietary needs, picky eaters, children, and active persons who live on-the-go with little time to prepare meals.
The shakes are the brainchild of food professional Levana Kirschenbaum, CEO and founder.
Said Kirschenbaum: “Not all meal replacement shakes are created equal. Most of them target weight-loss or sport nutrition and are not designed to close a dietary gap or provide the whole-meal nutritional value that many consumers desperately need. Moreover, many meal-replacement shakes are high in sugar and contain ingredients that cannot fit the bill for a fully integrated meal. Others are simply carriers for protein powders, and can contain artificial flavours or other non-nutritive additives.”
The Levana plant-based portfolio of nutritional shakes is sugar-free, gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free. It also is non-GMO, NFC-certified natural, and certified Kosher. Levana nutritional shakes come in three delicious flavours: vanilla bean, mixed berry and cocoa-coffee and are available on a private-label basis to the B2B nutraceutical and functional food sectors.
Under the close guidance of the globally recognised food scientist, Joe Regenstein, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Food Science for Cornell University and following years of R&D experiments at the Pure Functional Foods Plant in Savannah, New York, Kirschenbaum arrived at a composition of hemp, chia, flax, pumpkin, sunflower seeds, avocado, and other all natural ingredients for her formulations.
Challenges to production involved the need for an ultra-fine grind for effortless ingestion in order to make the powder fine enough to be suitable for parenteral feeding formulations. To solve this, the protein from the hemp, flax, chia, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds—the main ingredients in the formulations—first has to be separated from the fat. The fat then is naturally processed into powder, using tapioca as a carrier, with both then reintroduced into the formulation matrix. “These healthful fats are a highly valuable nutrient, providing concentrated calories, and adding suspension and viscosity while being neutral in flavour,” explains Kirschenbaum. For more visit levanamealreplacement.com
