What can I use instead of soy protein in my chicken or turkey product?

If you’re looking to replace soy protein, soy concentrates, or isolated soy protein in your food formulations, or perhaps you simply didn’t know that a great alternative exists, Sonac has a solution. Better yet, our nutritious, more responsible alternative will yield a juicier, tastier product.

Why you should consider replacing soy with functional poultry protein

Functional poultry protein is superior to soy in that it delivers ample amounts of all of the essential amino acids that the human body needs and can’t make.

Secondly, because functional poultry protein is made from chicken or turkey skin and fat, using it makes for a juicier final food product. Here’s why: functional poultry protein has a superior binding ability that keeps more water in your product so it’s juicy even after it’s cooked. Plus, 40 percent of the functional chicken protein (called QBind Chicken FPP C) or functional turkey protein (QBind Turkey FPP T) is collagen and when collagen is heated, it melts and releases fatty juices.

Another reason you may be looking to replace the soy in your food product is that it’s among the top 8 allergens. When a food ingredient is an allergen, it presents two main challenges to formulators. The first is product labeling: the food package must include allergen labeling. Secondly, allergenic ingredients lead to logistical and planning hurdles during production in an effort to prevent cross-contamination of allergen traces.

Now you know why replacing soy beans with functional poultry protein in chicken products is worth considering, here’s how to get started in making the switch.

How to replace soy with functional poultry protein

You can replace soy—and usually even caseinate or egg—in your product with functional poultry protein fairly easily. Sometimes it’s a straightforward one-for-one swap, like in a sausage or hot dog, whereas in other food products, such as minced meat, the replacement ratio might not be exactly one to one. Fortunately, Sonac has the expertise to help you successfully swap out soy and swap in functional poultry protein.

There’s another perk to using functional poultry protein: it works in a variety of applications, like emulsions (hotdogs, sausages), ground meat products (hamburgers, meatballs, etc.), and tumbled or injected products (ham and other cold cuts, for example).

The ideal substitute for soy protein

Whatever your reason—or motivation is—to replace soy protein, isolated soy protein, or soy concentrates in your food product, know that functional poultry protein is a superior substitution that will yield a high-quality food product and potentially at a lower formulation price point.

Learn more about Functional Poultry Protein (QBind Chicken FPP C or QBind Turkey FPP T) here, and download our leaflet.