SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(Marketwire - Jul 11, 2012) - NutraCea (OTCQB: [ NTRZ ]) (PINKSHEETS: [ NTRZ ]), a global leader in the production and marketing of value-added products derived from rice bran, provides an update on its recent showing at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada and its Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

NutraCea's management and sales staff presented at NutraCea's booth at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting and Food Expo in Las Vegas June 26-28. IFT is a combination of technical food ingredient exhibitions, seminars and technical "poster" presentations held over three days. More than 18,000 food industry professionals from around the world attended this year's event to learn about the latest products and trends. 

NutraCea focused its sales efforts on food ingredients including gluten-free and whole grain applications, use in emulsified meats and reduced oil uptake in fried and par-fried foods. In addition to pre-arranged meetings with domestic and international food ingredient customers and distributors, NutraCea attracted significant interest from a number of major global food, nutritional supplement and pharmaceutical manufacturers looking for cost-effective ingredients and applications that can help satisfy consumer demand for healthier, sustainable, hypoallergenic, and non-genetically-modified food ingredients.

President & CEO W. John Short commented, "We were particularly pleased by the interest in our rice bran-based healthy nutrition products shown by a number of large global food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical companies at IFT. In fact, we received unscheduled visits from representatives of three of the world's 10 largest pharmaceutical companies at the show. NutraCea has invested millions of dollars over the years in research, clinical trials and applications development in important areas aimed at specific health targets including diabetes applications and pain/inflammation management. I believe the strong interest received at IFT is indicative of the potential value of these investments not only for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications but also as mainstream food ingredients."

Short continued, "Functional foods and nutritional supplements with proven health benefits, such as our rice bran-based derivatives, can provide 'fast-to-market' nutritional approaches that help promote and manage healthy lifestyles. In addition, we believe these products have great promise as inclusions in mainstream food products as major global food companies focus on development of healthier alternatives to their current lineups of snack foods."

Significant interest was also expressed by some of the world's largest fast food companies in NutraCea's defatted rice bran product DF300. Replacing traditional batter ingredients with up to 20% DF300 reduces oil pick up in par-fried and fully-fried foods by as much as 50%. A "poster" on the oil reduction impact of DF300 was presented at IFT by Ryan Husak of PHD Technologies Inc. illustrating the benefits of inclusion in coatings for fried vegetables and fried fish. Materials from that "poster" presentation can be found on NutraCea's website at [ www.nutracea.com ] and inquiries can be directed to Colin Garner, SVP - Sales at [ cgarner@nutracea.com ].

NutraCea's health target technologies have been developed to promote healthy living through research and development of ingredients that help balance lipid and glucose metabolism and reduce inflammation. Additional information on these technologies can be obtained by contacting Dr. Robert Smith, SVP - Business Development at [ rsmith@nutracea.com ].

The Annual Meeting of Stockholders of NutraCea was held on June 19, 2012. At the Annual Meeting, shareholders elected seven members to the Board of Directors comprising W. John Short, Baruch Halpern, Henk W. Hoogenkamp, Richard H. Koppes, James C. Lintzenich, Edward L. McMillan and John J. Quinn. Additionally, BDO USA, LLP, NutraCea's independent registered public accounting firm, was appointed for the fiscal year 2012.

During the meeting, President & CEO Short updated attending shareholders on the current state of the business and SVP - Operations David Hutchinson delivered a PowerPoint presentation showing the status of several projects and the plant expansion underway at Irgovel, the company's Pelotas, Brazil-based rice bran bio-refinery. The company expects the projects and plant expansion to be complete by year end.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about the interest of food ingredient customers and distributors in NutraCea's products and technologies, and NutraCea's expectations regarding opportunities in food ingredients, food supplements and nutraceuticals and functional foods. These statements are made based upon current expectations that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements in this news release to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking information. Assumptions and other information that could cause results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking information can be found in NutraCea's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including NutraCea's most recent periodic reports.

About NutraCea
NutraCea is a human food ingredient and animal nutrition company focused on the procurement, bio-refining and marketing of numerous products derived from rice bran. NutraCea has proprietary and patented intellectual property that allows us to convert rice bran, one of the world's most underutilized food sources, into a number of highly nutritious human food ingredient and animal nutrition products. Our target markets are human food and animal nutrition manufacturers and retailers, as well as natural food, functional food and nutraceutical supplement manufacturers and retailers, both domestically and internationally. More information can be found in the Company's filings with the SEC and by visiting our website at [ www.nutracea.com ].