New Rules, New Tools: Shiru’s AI Ingredients Help Food Companies Stay Ahead of Regulation

Courtesy: Shiru

As food companies across the United States brace for sweeping regulatory changes targeting artificial ingredients and excessive sugar content, one startup is offering a timely lifeline. Shiru, a company leveraging artificial intelligence to unlock new ingredient solutions, has announced the commercial production of two novel plant-based ingredients: uPro™ and OleoPro™. Both products mark a significant step forward in creating cleaner, more functional foods without sacrificing taste, texture, or performance.

Shiru’s announcement comes against a backdrop of growing urgency. In Washington D.C., lawmakers and regulators are intensifying pressure on the food and beverage sector to prioritize healthier, more transparent formulations. For brands scrambling to reformulate products without resorting to synthetic additives or losing consumer trust, the availability of high-performance, naturally sourced ingredients is no longer a luxury—it is a necessity.

At the center of Shiru’s achievement is its proprietary AI platform, Flourish™, designed to dramatically shorten the typical ingredient discovery timeline. Traditionally, a process that could take years of trial and error, ingredient identification, and validation now happens within months. Flourish™ sifts through millions of protein sequences to pinpoint candidates that can meet specific functional needs, such as emulsification, texturization, and fat replacement—all critical to building foods that consumers recognize and enjoy.

The launch of uPro™ and OleoPro™ reflects this new model of innovation. uPro™, a structured protein derived from potato, offers potent texturizing and emulsifying capabilities. Its ability to stabilize oils and deliver a consistent mouthfeel makes it ideal for a wide range of products, from plant-based dairy to sauces and dressings. Crucially for manufacturers, it can simply be labeled as “potato protein,” aligning neatly with clean label strategies and rising consumer expectations around ingredient transparency.

Meanwhile, OleoPro™ addresses one of the more stubborn challenges in food formulation: replacing solid fats like palm oil and hydrogenated fats without compromising functionality. Made by combining unsaturated liquid oils with potato protein, OleoPro™ remains solid at room temperature and achieves more than a 90% reduction in saturated fat compared to conventional solid fats. It offers authentic browning, rich mouthfeel, and the stability needed for baked goods, spreads, and meat alternatives—all while helping brands meet demands for healthier nutritional profiles.

Production scalability has been a core focus for Shiru from the outset. With commercial interest surging, the company has confirmed the capacity to produce thousands of metric tons of OleoPro™ annually. Notably, both uPro™ and OleoPro™ are already gross-margin positive from launch—a detail that has not gone unnoticed by major global consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies seeking dependable, profitable alternatives amid an evolving market landscape.

For Dr. Jasmin Hume, founder and CEO of Shiru, the debut of these two ingredients highlights a broader shift underway. “Our goal is not to reinvent the foods people love,” she explained. “It is to make them better—cleaner, more sustainable, and aligned with modern health and regulatory standards—without sacrificing the qualities that make them enjoyable.”

The utility of Shiru’s discoveries appears to extend beyond traditional food categories. Early exploratory discussions with companies in adjacent sectors suggest that the functional properties of uPro™ and OleoPro™—particularly their stability, emulsification, and structuring capabilities—could find applications in fields ranging from cosmetics to materials science.

Made with ingredients that are Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) and suitable for immediate market deployment, uPro™ and OleoPro™ offer an attractive proposition for food companies under mounting pressure to adapt. Their arrival underscores a new era in ingredient development, where the combination of AI-driven discovery and thoughtful commercialization strategy allows companies to respond rapidly to regulatory change and shifting consumer priorities.

Orders for both ingredients are now open, with Shiru poised to support both established brands and emerging companies looking to differentiate through healthier, more transparent product offerings. As the food industry navigates a complex transition toward cleaner, more responsible formulations, solutions like uPro™ and OleoPro™ may well become essential tools—not only to comply with regulations but to maintain consumer trust and loyalty in a changing marketplace.