American Soybean Association Successfully Completes Soy Food Expert Course

2023 Soyfood Master Program
71 Masters Graduated at Soyfood Master Awards

The United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC) announced on the 28th that it has produced 71 masters through the '2023 Soyfood Master Program' Soyfood Master Awards.

Participants of the 2023 Soyfood Master Program are taking a commemorative photo.
[Photo by U.S. Soybean Export Council]

The Soyfood Master Program is a free educational program launched in 2022 with support from the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to train soybean food experts. It targets nutritionists working in the food service industry as well as those involved in group catering and ready-made meal services, aiming to promote the excellence of soybeans and soybean foods and to encourage diverse uses of soybean foods within the food service industry.

The program, which began on April 3, received applications from about 200 participants, and ultimately 71 Soyfood Masters who passed the online certification exam were selected. Over the course of three months, participants engaged in various activities including completing a guidebook and lecture videos containing nutritional information about soybeans and soybean foods, taking an online certification exam, quizzes, and submitting soyfood recipes. For outstanding participants who actively engaged in the program, a soyfood cooking class with a famous culinary researcher was held, and the final selected masters will also be offered the opportunity to tour the U.S. soybean industry.

On the 20th and 21st of last month, an offline soyfood cooking class was held together with the 2023 Soyfood Masters. Sponsored by Sajo Daerim, Samyook Foods, and CJ CheilJedang, the cooking class featured culinary researchers Boeun Lee and Shinae Hong, who prepared various soyfood dishes using familiar soybean products such as doenjang (fermented soybean paste), tofu, and soy milk.

Lee Hyung-seok, head of the USSEC Korea office, stated, "Through the Soyfood Master Program, we hope to cultivate more soybean food experts and see soybeans, a healthy ingredient, used more diversely in the food service industry." He added, "We will continue to strive to inform food service industry workers about efforts for a sustainable future of U.S. soybeans and various ways to utilize them."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.