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Our In-Shell Nut Ingredients Are Confirmed Safe: Here's What the Science Says

RE-NUT AG

March 17, 2026

A newly published peer-reviewed study confirms that RE-NUT® ingredients — Almond Solids, Almond Liquid Extract, and Peanut Paste — show no genotoxic concern. We spoke with Prof. Dr. Hans Verhagen, the food safety expert who helped design and oversee the research, to understand what this means for our ingredients and the road ahead.

A New Kind of Nut Ingredient Needs a Standard Safety Package

The RE-NUT® process is unlike anything else in the nut industry. By wet-milling whole, roasted in-shell nuts and separating the slurry into its valuable fractions, we unlock a far richer ingredient than conventional nut processing ever could. The nutshell, long discarded as waste, turns out to be a concentrated source of dietary fiber and polyphenolic antioxidants. That is the entire point: more of the nut, more of the goodness.

But precisely because our ingredients include shell fractions that have no established history of dietary consumption, regulators in a.o. Europe and the United States require thorough safety evidence before these products can come to market. Under the EU Novel Food Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, and as part of any GRAS notification to the US FDA, a defined safety package must be assembled — and genotoxicity testing is a mandatory component of that package.

"The safety package needs to deliver reliable information on genotoxicity, or rather, the absence of genotoxicity concerns. Two basic tests are requested by authorities: OECD 471 and OECD 487. These have been conducted. With a negative outcome. And negative is good because we do not want any alerts."

— Prof. Dr. Hans Verhagen, Food Safety & Nutrition Consultant, RE-NUT advisor

What Was Tested and How

The study, published in the European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety in March 2026, evaluated three RE-NUT® ingredients:

· Almond Solids from Roasted In-Shell Almonds

· Almond Liquid Extract from Roasted In-Shell Almonds

· Peanut Paste from Roasted In-Shell Peanuts

The studies involved multiple independent testing laboratories across Europe.

Two internationally recognized test systems were used, both falling under "Tier 1" of the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) genotoxicity testing strategy for novel foods:

OECD Guideline 471 — Bacterial Reverse Mutation Test (“Ames Test”): checks whether a substance can cause gene mutations in bacterial strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli. These tests were conducted at Toxi-Coop Zrt. (Hungary) and Charles River Laboratories (the Netherlands).

OECD Guideline 487 — In Vitro Mammalian Cell Micronucleus Test: assesses whether a substance can cause chromosomal damage in human lymphocytes. These tests were carried out at Eurofins in Munich, Germany.

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The Result: No Genotoxic Concern

Across all three ingredients and all experimental conditions, with and without metabolic activation, across all bacterial strains and human lymphocyte assays, the results were convincingly negative. No gene mutations. No chromosomal damage. In regulatory terms, this is exactly the result needed: Almond Solids, Almond Liquid Extract, and Peanut Paste can be considered not to be of genotoxic concern. The Tier 1 conclusion is met, with no further genotoxicity testing required.

Prof. Verhagen, who has specialized in genotoxicity testing throughout his career and advised RE-NUT from the design phase through to publication, put it simply: "I felt very comfortable, looking at the nature and composition of the test materials. I would have been highly surprised if any positive outcomes, and positive here means bad news, came out. That was confirmed. We confirmed the feeling that there are no concerns."

Why This Matters for the Path to Market

The publication of this study is not just a scientific milestone, but also a regulatory one. For the US FDA GRAS notification pathway, studies of this kind must be published in the public domain for at least six months before the notification can be filed. That clock is now running.

For the European Novel Food route, the data directly feeds into the EFSA safety dossier. And this is only the beginning: the genotoxicity studies form the foundation of a broader toxicological assessment package that will support the formal authorisation of RE-NUT® ingredients across global markets.

As Prof. Verhagen noted: "It's a necessary step to confirm that the products that will be brought to market are safe. The studies are required, they've been conducted with a negative outcome, and a negative outcome means no alerts. All requirements fulfilled."

A First in the Field and a Foundation for what is next

To our knowledge, this is the first systematic genotoxicity assessment ever published for shell-comprising almond ingredients. There is no comparable dataset in the scientific literature. That means RE-NUT® is not only pioneering a new category of sustainable nut ingredient, we are also building the scientific infrastructure that will define how these ingredients are evaluated globally.

Read the full study: Laux et al. (2026). An In-vitro Assessment of the Genotoxic Potential of In-Shell Nut Ingredients According to OECD Genotoxicity Guidelines 471 and 487. European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety, 18(3), 208–225.

Download the study here.

Interested in licensing the RE-NUT® technology? Get in touch at info@re-nut.com

Ready for Scale: From Pilot to 2027 Launch

Ready to ride the next wave of food innovation? Whether you’re formulating a high-fiber snack, a low-sugar treat, or a planet-friendly beverage, RE-NUT’s ingredient systems might just be the toolkit you need. All these benefits will soon be available at an industrial scale. RE-NUT® is currently building out the Blueprint Line, our first full-scale production line for in-shell almond processing, located in North America. This state-of-the-art facility, to be operational by Q1 2027, will mark the commercial debut of in-shell almond flour.

Ready to innovate with us? Get in touch to learn more about our early partnership program, obtain sample batches for testing, or schedule a demo. Together, let’s create the next generation of confections that are not only irresistibly delicious, but also rich in goodness and rooted in sustainability. The future of nut-powered, better-for-you treats is almost here, and we’d be thrilled to have you on board.

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