WITH GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA ATTENTION firmly trained on nutrition and food safety issues, new ingredients and processing aids are coming to market that suppliers say can deliver new functionalities and consumer propositions. In an increasingly picky marketplace, that can help manufacturers position new items and reposition existing products.
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Consider the challenges associated with developing good tasting items that fit the market for indulgent products and that exhibit prolonged energy release, low glycemic index and reduced calories while at the same time avoiding laxation effects and promoting satiety. While candy, snack and baked goods developers have long employed a range of fully caloric sugars, high intensity sweeteners and polyols to sweeten their products, recent developments are opening up new opportunities.
For example, the FDA recently allowed products made with isomaltulose to claim they do not promote tooth decay. The slow release carbohydrate, marketed as Palatinose by Beneo-Palatanit, GmbH (see News, pg. 13) and Xtend by Cargill Inc.'s Sweetener Solutions group, is a fully digestible, sustained energy nutritive sweetener with the same energy value as sucrose but about half the sweetness.
Made from sugar by enzymatic conversion, it is digested much more slowly than sucrose, which is said to make it ideal for use in products positioned as sustained energy items and, depending on other ingredients, tooth friendliness.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently allowed the claim that isomaltulose does not promote tooth decay, a development Cargill and others say bodes well for the development of more tooth friendly confectionery and chewing gums.
According to the company's Anne Mollerus, global product manager, the slow release carbohydrate offers consumers 'the highly desirable benefits of sustained energy release and lower glycemic response. We are pleased that the dental claim can be added to its attributes.'
Until recently, isomaltulose has been used primarily in beverages and powdered baked goods, but it is now finding its way into the confectionery, snack and baked goods arenas.
For example, Barry Callebaut AG introduced a Palatinose-based chocolate to the European market that recently received a 'Happy Tooth' seal from Toothfriendly International.
It's a positive development especially for producers of kids products, says Hans Vriens, Callebaut's chief innovation officer, adding: 'The advantage of our chocolate is that it is safe for teeth and has no laxative effect.' Callebaut, he notes, is the only company with clinical studies to back its claims and support the endorsement by the dental group.
Also in Europe, Isostar Sport Nutrition Co. is marketing Pro Long Energy Cake, a sports nutrition cake mix that relies on Palatinose as its energy source.
'It is important to understand that this is not for typical candy or chewing gum,' says Palatinit's Dr. Stephan Hausmanns, head of product management. It is not only a sugar which can be used in place of sucrose, he explains, 'but also a carbohydrate with functionalities that offer new positions that are backed up by scientific studies.'
He tells Candy & Snack BUSINESS: 'It can be used for many types of candy, snack or healthy baked goods products where calories can be positioned positively.'
The applications being targeted are cacao beverages, jellies and gummies, as well as bars and baked goods such as muffins. Also in the company's sights are meal replacement items that target consumers who are looking for an afternoon energy boost or a convenient start to their day, he says.
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'Why breakfast?' he asks. 'This is a time where you need energy to get the body started, but the calories consumed should not occur at a peak to flood your body, but more sustained and prolonged over time to achieve a more healthy and gentle energy supply. If you replace part of the sucrose with Palatinose, you can position your product in that direction.'
From that standpoint, Hausmanns says: 'It is more like a functional carbohydrate, not a sugar--something you put in the food to substantiate your claim. What is new is that the claims now come with a sugar instead of fibers, polyols or vitamins. We call it a functional sugar.'
GOOD FOR YOUR GUT
Also new to the market is a resistant starch and a soluble corn fiber, both from Tate & Lyle PLC. The dietary fibers were launched this past summer and are sold under the Promitor brand. According to the company's Michelle Schwenk, food scientist, both are appropriate for use in candy and snack applications, although their functionalities are completely different.
What sets the company's resistant starch apart from others, she says, is its high thermal stability. 'It is applicable in extrusion and puffed products, and in other processes where other resistant starches would break down and essentially become starch.'
A prebiotic, it also exhibits very low water holding ability--a plus, she says, because technically, its use adds no functionality to finished products.
She explains: 'It replaces part of the flour, doesn't hydrate and its fiber remains intact. When it gets to your gut it is partially fermented and does the kind of things that insoluble fibers do, which is to make everything work better down there.'
On the other hand, she says Promitor soluble corn fiber is 'basically the opposite.' Soluble, and GRAS under the definition of corn syrup, Schwenk says its applications are very wide and overreaching.
'Anytime you are going to use corn syrup or sweeteners you can use soluble corn fiber,' she says.
Functionally, she adds, its performance is similar to 35DE corn syrup, but with important differences, such as reduced glycemic response, about a third that of standard glucose and maltodextrin, and reduced insulin response.
'It has a lot of bonds your body can't digest, so that brings the molecule intact to your intestines where the bacteria in your body can ferment it. It is a prebiotic, and we get a very high butyrate level that can then be used as energy and is associated with a lot of good health benefits. Different fibers have different levels of short chain fatty acids, and our soluble corn fiber has high levels of the best ones, and we also have high levels of tolerance.'
Stability during processing is also important, she points out, and it can be a shortcoming in low pH and high temperature environments where some other competing products might break down.
Promitor soluble corn fiber is stable in low pHs over time, she says, adding: 'it is stable at different pHs and temperatures during processing, so we know that the amount you put into the product is the amount you deliver.'
According to Schwenk, product prototypes have demonstrated the soluble fiber's effectiveness and ease of use. 'We've made high fiber jellies where we have taken the exact formula normally used to make jellies, taken the corn syrup out, put the soluble corn fiber in and we have 11 grams of fiber per serving. We've also made cookies with it and it completely dissolves and doesn't add any color or flavor, or viscosity to speak of.'
Positive results are also coming from chocolate, she says, where the product does not appear to interfere with crystallization. She reveals that tests with major manufacturers are underway.
It also has applications in snacks, where Schwenk says it can serve as 'an excellent binder.'
She points out: 'You can use it at almost 100 percent and get all your fiber claims from the binder and reduce your sweetness. Granola bars are notorious for being supposedly healthy but having a lot of sugar and calories, so you can increase the fiber and decrease the sugar by using the soluble corn fiber as a binder.'
Another technology said to be gaining traction targets chocolate and compound users interested in developing items that fit into the 'better-for-you' market.
According to Lara Niemann, Gelita North America's sales, marketing and communications manager, the company's Instant Gel Schoko, a protein extracted from hydrolyzed collagen, is capable of increasing the protein content of items by as much as 75 percent, reducing total and saturated fat by 25 and 28 percent each, while also cutting cholesterol and calories by 15 and eight percent, respectively.
Neutral in odor and flavor, the GRAS ingredient does not affect taste or other properties, such as texture, crystallization, melting and hardness, according to Niemann.
She says: 'In taste tests conducted comparing regular chocolate with chocolate containing Instant Gel Schoko, participants were unable to tell the difference in taste or texture. The most important breakthrough, however, is its effect on the healthy benefits of chocolate.'
While most ingredients are intended to contribute structure, function, flavor and other familiar characteristics, manufacturers of baked and fried products face a different challenge--reducing the acrylamide content of their products.
BATTLING ACRYLAMIDE
In 2002, Swedish National Food authorities found high levels of the substance, which is classified as a 'probable carcinogen' in humans, in many starch-based foods processed or cooked at high temperatures, including biscuits, crackers, snacks, chips and other items. To overcome such issues, manufacturers have tried changing raw materials and baking temperatures, but found the resulting effects on browning and flavor to be unacceptable.
Simultaneously, other research centered on finding ways to minimize or eliminate acrylamide formation without interfering in the Maillard reaction or otherwise adversely affecting the end products' taste or browning properties. The result is the recent introduction of so-called asparaginase enzyme preparations from Royal DSM NVs DSM Food Specialties division and Novozymes A/S.
Dubbed PreventASe by DSM and Acrylaway by Novozymes, both of the processing aids are designed to convert the amino acid asparagine, a precursor to acrylamide, into aspartic acid.
As a result, the companies say, asparagine is no longer available to the chemical reaction that forms acrylamide, resulting in reduction levels ranging from 50 to 90 percent in finished products. Both Acrylaway and PreventASe are FDA GRAS.
The difference, according to the companies, is the strain of the Aspergillus micro-organism each uses to produce asparaginase. Novozymes employs Aspergillus oryzae, while DSM derives its product from Aspergillus niger.
Both products are patented, and are being made available to food producers through agreements with Frito-Lay North America, Inc. and The Proctor & Gamble Co., both of which control the application patents for the use of asparaginase.
'In principle,' says DSM's Judith Heikoop, new business development manager, 'we were the owners of the patents on the enzyme, but if a food company wanted to apply it, they had to go to the owners of the application patents.'
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Recent agreements between the patent holders eliminated that hurdle, giving manufacturers the freedom to use the ingredient in their applications.
Heikoop tells Candy & Snack BUSINESS Preventase is well-suited for dough-based products, and for items made from flakes and granules.
Depending on the product, she says: 'It's added at some point during the process, and our application specialists will work with companies to determine the best place to apply the ingredient.'
The conversion, she points out, takes place during the standing time.
She adds: 'We have tested a lot of biscuit and cracker applications and found we are able to implement PreventASe in any process.'
Regarding Acrylaway, Novozymes' Anett Lund-Nielsen, launch manager, says: 'It's not that the industry needs to apply different processes to use this. In dough applications, such as biscuits, or crackers and cookies, it is fairly simple to apply.
'We think that what is unique about Acrylaway is it allows you to only slightly change the process, but not reduce the baking temperature or the raw materials. You get the same product out, with no effect on taste or appearance, while at the same time you also get very high reductions in acrylamide.'
Both are said to work well in warm and cool doughs, and for products that require reconstitution, such as puffed snacks and formed chips. But answers are still being sought when it comes to solving the acrylamide problem for makers of traditional potato chips.
Heikoop notes: 'For slices, we are not there yet, but we are working on it.' The snag, she explains, is getting the enzyme into the vegetable's cell structure, which can be difficult to achieve in both batch and continuous processes where residence time between slicing and frying is often very short.
The technology's first commercial application was just introduced in Germany with the release of a line of traditional Christmas biscuits. Made with PreventASe, the company says tests show a 70 percent reduction in acrylamide.
As governments, retailers and consumers search out new approaches to combat real and perceived health issues, ingredient suppliers can be expected to rise to the challenges presented in formulating and marketing the new breeds of snack and candy products.
RELATED ARTICLE: JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT
OF COURSE NOT ALL DEVELOPMENTS are geared toward high performance. In fact, Colorcon, Inc.'s reformulated Pearlicoat system, which adds a shimmering pearlescent or metallic luster to a range of products, might better be described as a 'high touch' ingredient.
Aminah Lewis, technical service coordinator, food & confectionery, tells Candy & Snack BUSINESS that following approval by the FDA, the company recently moved the coloring system to a mica-based pigment. The usage limit is 1.25 percent by weight, and its applications include cereals, confections, frostings, gelatin desserts, hard and soft candies, chewing gum and several pharma applications. The original formulation used titanium dioxide.
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However, she points out: 'We are developing other customized systems for baking applications.' These include a dry powder that, when hydrated, can be sprayed on iced cakes, cookies and similar products. According to Lewis, the pigments remain in suspension, and custom colors can also be developed.
Three versions of Pearlicoat are currently available, and while all are flavorless and do not affect product texture, they can be flavored. The 'A' version is a dry system that must be hydrated with water. For film coating applications, which Lewis says require the use of perforated pans, it offers complete coverage and is said to work well on any surface.
For panning, solvent-based Pearlicoat S system is billed as quick-drying, and is said to be particularly well-suited for producing products with a speckled appearance. Finally, Pearlescent Color Blends are designed to be blended in the candy mass before forming such translucent products as gummies and hard candy, and they can also be dusted on chocolates.
RELATED ARTICLE: EXECUTIVE BRIEF
Suppliers detail new ingredients designed to help snack and candy makers develop and market products that appeal to consumers' increased focus on healthy lifestyles.
