New food products using an extract from U.S. barley hit Japanese shelves September 1. Japan has traditionally consumed barley in teas, liquors, and cereals, and now Japan’s aging and highly health conscious population coupled has created new interest in beta-glucan barley as well. According to U.S. research, beta-glucan found in U.S. barley has heart healthy properties such as reducing cholesterol.

The U.S. Grains Council targeted the potential increased Japanese interest in food barley as the U.S. research was underway, and ever since official acceptance of the research results, the Council has been trying to identify a Japanese company to introduce heart-healthy barley products to the market.The Council had worked with the Japanese food industry including a Japanese food manufacturer, Ootsuka Pharmaceuticals, to explore opportunities through food shows, seminars on beta-glucan barley and Council sponsored barley groups traveling to the United States. As a result, Ootsuka has been able to introduce four health-oriented snack food products — crackers, cream coup, corn soup and barley cereal — which contain beta-glucan from U.S. barley. Ootsuka was the pioneer in bringing beta-glucan barley to market in Japan.

“The Council is very excited to learn of Ootsuka’s new food products that utilize U.S. barley,” said Tommy Hamamoto, USGC director in Japan. “Traditionally 80 percent of the total import demand for barley comes from the feed sector, primarily for beef production. However, these new products open new possibilities for U.S. barley exports to Japan.”

Japan imported 1,348 metric tons (61,913 bushels) of U.S. food barley in 2012, which was about 0.7 percent of the food barley import market share. The Council is involved in the Japanese barley sector to maintain an open dialog between the U.S. barley industry and the major barley buying groups to increase U.S. market share of barley imports.