Traditionally Canola is used simply as a cooking oil or to make salad dressing but Burcon has taken its isolates to make emulsifiers and binding systems in food products.
Back in August last year Burcon found itself on the receiving end of negative comments about its technology from investment firm Canaccord Adams.
In a report on rival firm Bio Extraction, Canaccord Adams attacked Burcon for using conventional meal to produce Puratein and Supertein canola protein isolates.
“Enduring misunderstanding”
A year on and Burcon has now responded publically in an effort to correct what it calls “an enduring misunderstanding” in the investment community.
In the original Canaccord Adams report, authors Sara Elford and Jeffery Leung said: “Their starting point is the meal produced from conventional extraction processes.
“Unlike Bioexx meal, this meal has been exposed to high temperatures and this fact makes the process of protein concentration/separation technically challenging and expensive.”
Retaliation
Earlier this week Burcon countered this statement publically, calling it false on several counts.
The company said it does not use meal produced from conventional extraction processes and does not expose the meal to high temperatures.
To support these claims Burcon published extracts from a press release published in 2006 explicitly stating that the company does not use conventional meal.
Soon after the publication of the disputed research report in August last year, Burcon requested a retraction from Canaccord Adams but so far the investment firm has refused.
Food Navigator USA contacted Canaccord Adams to hear its version of events but nobody at the company was available to comment before publication.