Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

French nougat has been created egg-free by food scientists at Arla Foods Ingredient. In response to an enquiry from a customer in China, the bakery team has developed a solution which replaces the eggwhites in nougat with the whey protein isolate Nutrilac BK-9250.

Martin Kristensen, bakery technical manager, quotes a potential cost saving of 30-40% when replacing high quality crystalline egg white. The protein has an 18-month shelf life, requires no cold storage and the risk of microbiological contamination is minimal.

Source: Confectionery Production

Confectionery Arla Foods Ingredient, egg-free, French nougat, Nutrilac BK-9250

Last summer’s drought in Russia pushed wheat prices to their highest levels in years, and the fallout is a reminder of how much humanity depends on the rain. Now, scientists are searching for novel approaches to make wheat less vulnerable to drought.

Some efforts are trying to replace the genes that made possible the dramatic boost in wheat harvests in the latter half of the 20th century in India known as the Green Revolution.

Few people can see the accomplishments of the Green Revolution more clearly than Kulvinder Gill, who grew up in a village in India where, half a century ago, some predicted catastrophe because food production wasn’t growing as fast as the population. “It was a common belief that this world is going to end because of the starvation,” Gill said. “People are going to fight for food and kill each other.”

But scientists such as Orville Vogel at Washington State University bred new varieties of wheat that included a mutant gene that kept the plant short. When you gave these plants lots of fertilizer and irrigated them, they didn’t just get tall and fall over like ordinary wheat — they produced more grain. A lot more.

“These dwarfing genes came and almost tripled yields, at least in Punjab area,” Gill said.

So Gill left his village in Punjab and became a wheat geneticist. He now occupies the Orville Vogel Endowed Chair in wheat breeding at Washington State.

Searching For A New Wheat Gene

And he’s hoping to not only repeat what Vogel did, but improve on it. That’s because the dwarfing genes of the green revolution — which are now in 90 percent of all the wheat that farmers grow around the world — have an unfortunate side effect, he says: They make it harder for the plant to thrive when water is scarce.

For instance, when it’s dry, farmers have to plant seeds deeper because that’s where the moisture is.

“And these semi-dwarfs don’t do too good pushing out of 6 inches of soil,” Gill says.

So he’s now on the hunt for a different and better dwarfing gene. He knows exactly what he’s looking for: It’s a mutation that already exists in corn and sorghum. It doesn’t shrink the whole plant the way the green revolution genes do. Instead, it blocks the normal flow of a crucial growth hormone.

“So the plant reduces in height, but at the same time, the cob is bigger, the stem is thicker and stronger, and the plant looks great,” Gill says.

To create this kind of wheat plant, Gill and a group of collaborators have treated thousands of seeds with a chemical that makes random changes in DNA. Now these mutant wheat plants are growing in the greenhouse, and Gill has to see if any of them have the one change he wants.

“It is very difficult to know at this point if the mutant is the one — the kind we are looking for,” he says.

A Global Effort To Reprogram Crops

Gill’s project is just one small part of a global campaign to reprogram crops genetically so they can survive water shortages. People are trying everything from low-tech traditional crop breeding to high-tech gene splicing.

One approach, somewhere in the middle, involves looking for useful genes in wheat’s ancestors. Scientists are retrieving seeds from the refrigerated vaults of gene banks and taking a fresh look at those plants. Thousands of years ago, three of them somehow combined in the wild to form modern wheat.

David Bonnet, a wheat geneticist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center based in Mexico, says scientists can re-create that merger in the laboratory.

“So we can go back and bring in more genetic variation for a whole range of traits, but certainly drought tolerance is one of them,” Bonnet says.

But the approach that’s getting most of the attention and most of the money these days is genetic engineering.

Agricultural giant Monsanto has inserted a gene from bacteria into corn and it says this variety yields 8 to 10 percent more under drought conditions. The gene is called a transcription factor — a kind of master gene that activates many others when the plant is under stress.

The company says if it gets a green light from regulators, it will start selling the corn within two years. Monsanto has also donated the gene to a group of government-supported research institutions in Africa that are starting greenhouse trials of corn-containing the gene this year.

The Potential Of Genetic Enhancement

In the scientific community, there’s a lot of curiosity about the Monsanto product and some skepticism that it will work as advertised.

But many of them, including Mahyco, a leading seed company in India, also are looking for genes to splice into crops.

“In our program, we are looking at transcription factors from drought-tolerant crops — sorghum, acacia trees or other crops that are known to be drought-tolerant,” says Usha Zehr, Mahyco’s chief technology officer.

And geneticist Bonnet says there’s no shortage of genes that seem like they might possibly help a plant use water more efficiently.

“We have access to quite a lot of candidates ourselves, and we think they have as much or more potential as what Monsanto has,” he says.

Actually realizing that potential may become increasingly important as the globe warms up. Climate models predict that many parts of the world — including major crop-growing areas — will see more droughts in the coming years.

Source: NPR

Milling industry Monsanto, resistant wheat, wheat genetic, wheat prices

The International Baking Industry Exposition, which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 26 through September 29, truly lived up to its tagline as the place “Where the Industry Unites.” In fact, close to 20,000 attendees gathered here, ready to take their baking businesses to the next level after the prolonged recession that filled much of the gap in the show’s three-year rotation.

Over the four days of the show, attendees flooded the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, looking for the latest equipment, ingredient and supply solutions from more than 700 industry suppliers. Several bakers commented about the record number of innovative products on display this year. Mike Beaty, IBIE vice chairman and executive vice president of supply chain for Flowers Foods, Inc., stated, “IBIE has always been known for innovation, but these exhibitors took it to a whole new level. Clearly, we have raised the bar for the next generation of baking technology and IBIE has solidified its positioning as the industry’s largest platform for new product launches.”

A common theme among exhibitors was the number of international buyers who attended the Las Vegas event. Many exhibitors stated that this was the best IBIE in history for connecting with buyers from outside the United States—buyers that many exhibitors would not have been able to reach on their own. According to Rich Hoskins, IBIE committee chair and president of Colborne Foodbotics, LLC., “Our post-show statistics prove that our international marketing efforts paid off. Nearly 30 percent of our buyers were from outside the United States, with Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico and Japan bringing the largest buying contingencies.”

The show committee also made great strides in achieving one of its primary objectives: bringing the entire grain-based food industry together. The Tortilla Industry Association (TIA) held its annual two-day Technical Conference in conjunction with IBIE, almost doubling the number of participants that normally attend the meeting. Similarly, the Retail Bakers of America (RBA) completely integrated into IBIE rather than holding a standalone event. Cheryl Sherman of The Ambrosia Bakery said of the union, “To be joined with a show this big was the best thing that could have happened to RBA—and it’s the best show we’ve ever attended. Sure, there’s a lot of big-time equipment, but it’s given me a wish list and ideas on how to grow my bakery and do things I had never dreamed.”

Just as exciting as the business conducted between bakers and suppliers at IBIE were the educational opportunities presented. This year, AIB International, RBA, The Bread Bakers Guild of America, TIA, ABA and BEMA joined forces to offer the most robust, comprehensive educational conference to date. The seminar program, five times larger and broader in scope than that of the 2007 event, attracted a wide variety of participants from across the grain-based food industry. “To look at the audience and see a room that is set for 200 people completely full—with people standing along the walls—was outstanding. This confirmed the need for a strong education program,” commented Dennis Gunnell, IBIE committee member and vice president of sales and marketing for Formost Fuji Corporation.

Furthermore, IBIE, along with Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine and The Long Company, honored eleven industry suppliers that have made a positive impact on the environment with its B.E.S.T. (Becoming Environmentally Sustainable Together) in Baking award. The following companies received a bamboo plaque, onsite recognition and media attention for their products or services that fostered energy conservation, a reduction in water usage, a decrease in landfill waste, healthy living and/ or a reduction of the overall impact on the environment:

Air Management Technologies, Inc.

American Pan-Bundy Baking Solutions

AmeriVap Systems

Banner-Day

Bedford Industries, Inc.

Colborne Foodbotics, LLC

Danisco USA

HFA, Inc/Handi-Foil of America

JEROS USA

Lime Energy for Sara Lee

Sara Lee and Horizon Milling

Rich Berger, director of engineering at Sara Lee Food and Beverage, commented, “We are proud of Lime Energy for winning this award, and because sustainability is such an important part of what we do at Sara Lee, we are proud of the progress we’ve made with their help.”

Another first, IBIE played host to three of the most prestigious competitions in the industry—the Louis Lesaffre Cup, the World Chocolate Masters and the Pillsbury Bakers’ Plus Creative Decorating Competition. Bakers, pastry chefs and chocolatiers from across the country and around the world demonstrated their skills and created exquisite masterpieces out of bread, cake and chocolate right on the show floor.

The winners are as follows:

Louis Lesaffre Cup:

North & Central America: USA

South America: Peru

The two winning teams were awarded with the Louis Lesaffre Cup trophy and a spot at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (Bakery World Cup), taking place at Europain 2012 in Paris, France.

World Chocolate Masters:

1st Place: Sylvain Bortolini, assistant executive pastry chef at Bellagio Las Vegas

2nd Place: Frederic Loraschi, chocolatier and owner of Chocolat Frederic Loraschi LLC in Hummelstown, Pa.

3rd Place: Stephen Durfee, pastry chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif.

Bortolini will now represent the United States at the prestigious 2011 World Chocolate Masters competition in Paris, where he will compete against chefs from 17 other countries, including Belgium, France, Switzerland, China, Australia and Brazil, for the title of “World Chocolate Master 2011” and a share of the prize package valued at €100,000 or approximately USD $130,000.

10th Annual Pillsbury Bakers’ Plus Creative Decorating Competition

The top three scoring individuals were awarded medals in each of the five sponsored categories. The highest overall scoring individual is named the Grand Champion and awarded the coveted Pillsbury Baker’s Plus Grand Champion Trophy, sponsored by General Mills. The winner will serve as CDC Floor Judge for the competition at RBA’s All Things Baking in 2011.

Grand Champion, sponsored by General Mills:

1st: Rita Llanso

2nd: Adam Gonsalves

3rd: Sarah Crews

Flowers and Sprays, sponsored by Chefmaster:

Gold: Cami Smith

Silver: Adam Gonsalves

Bronze: Rita Llanso

Custom Design Cakes, sponsored by DecoPac

Gold: Keeann Martineau

Silver: Sarah Crews

Bronze: Rebecca Phipps

Rolled Fondant, sponsored by Bakery Crafts:

Gold: Rita Llanso

Silver: Nancy Sepe

Bronze: Karey Barela

Sculpted Cakes, sponsored by Satin Fine Foods:

Gold: Adam Gonsalves

Silver: Keeann Martineau

Bronze: Sarah Crews

Wedding Cake, sponsored by Pfeil & Holing:

Gold: Rita Llanso

Silver: Karey Barela

Bronze: Adam Gonsalves

In 2013, IBIE will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from October 6 to October 9, 2013.

Events IBIE

Nestlé, Kellogg, Danone, Christian Hansen, and Fromageries Bel will work in partnership with TI Food & Nutrition to provide strategic research and innovation in probiotics development.

The five industry giants and TI Food and Nutrition in the Netherlands – an institute part funded by the industry and government – will combine their resources to carry out pre competitive basic level scientific research into gastrointestinal health and the effects of probiotics.

Several other large companies including Unilever, FrieslandCampina, VION, DSM and CSM are already in active partnership with TI Food and Nutrition on other research projects.

“We are committed to a structured approach to pre-competitive applied research of strategic importance to our industry partners,” said Jan Maat, Managing Director of TI Food and Nutrition

Maat said the program “enables our partners to select and invest in the research that offers them the greatest innovation potential in line with their business development strategies and R&D capabilities.”

Fundamental research

According to Chr. Hansen, the partnership with TI Food and Nutrition – due to begin in January 2011 – will focus on “further disclosing the sophisticated mechanisms of the human gut.”

“TI Food and Nutrition is a recognized research leader with internationally renowned scientific experts in its network. The partnership will not enable us to offer new, scientifically documented probiotic solutions right away. Rather, we expect this initiative to bring the fundamental, pre-competitive probiotic research to the next level, bridging it with current challenges in the food, nutrition and pharmaceutical industries,” said Benedicte Flambard, head of R&D for Christian Hansen’s Health & Nutrition Division.

“The benefit of this project is that the probiotic field is multi-platform, you need to be an expert in many different fields. It’s very cross functional, but if you put people together from these areas, then it can help solve these problems,” said Flambard.

“All of the industrial partners have the same problems, so we can work together to create pre- competitive generalised knowledge,” she added.

Product development

As an industrial sponsors, Chr. Hansen said the companies will have the rights to any intellectual property resulting from the partnership, which also allows “immediate industrial implementation” of results or technologies developed through the collaborations.

“We can take any generic, pre- competitive findings from the partnership, and apply them in our own R&D and product development in our own facilities,” said Flambard.

Improving knowledge

The four year partnership will work together on research in five specific projects that will help to improve knowledge about the role of probiotics in the gut.

These include, investigating useful biomarkers for probiotics health effects, researching how the immune barriers of the gut function, looking into the metabolism and energy balances of microbiota, and investigating the wider roles of pro- and pre- biotics on intestinal tissues.

Source: Bakery and snacks

Research food giants, research, TI Food and Nutrition

As per October 1 this year FSSC 22000 received acceptation by the European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA).

The formal evaluation of conformity assessment schemes is a new process for the EA. FSSC 22000 is the first GFSI-recognized global food safety scheme that receives such EA acceptance. This means all accreditation bodies in Europe will accept FS22000. In the past all accreditation bodies in Europe evaluated the schemes individually. Also ANAB, SCC and JAS-ANZ are lined up with FS22000. The accreditation process for certification bodies against FSSC 22000, version July 2010, has already started.

FS22000
Where the official name of the scheme still is FSSC 22000, both board members and users of the scheme prefer the shorter indication FS22000 or even FS22. In this press release we will relate to the scheme as FS22000 from this point on.

FS22000 out and rolling
Introduction Fons Schmid, chairman Board of Stakeholders FS22000
In the year 2000 I became the first chairman of the GFSI and I always kept the door wide open for the food A-brands like Danone, Kraft, Nestle, Unilever and others, with their great safety systems. ISO 22000 became the answer and now they have joined the GFSI and ISO 22000 has found a professional home in FSSC 22000. We have decided to maintain the official name but from now we will speak about FS22000: short and powerful! FS22000 will play a crucial role in safeguarding food safety trough the supply chain all over the world! It is a great food safety scheme for safe food manufacturing in all countries and has the support of the GFSI, the industry and many retailers who follow the GFSI founding-mission: Certified once, accepted everywhere. Much is to be done:
Intensified marketing and communication, regional Centres of Excellence, wider support of CB’s, optimize integrity surveillance and, of course, keeping one to one with ISO and GFSI requirements. Our multi-stakeholders Board and excellent staff are ready for it and will perform to the benefit of consumer protection worldwide.

FS22000 certification scheme, July 2010
In view of the EA acceptance some last changes were made in the FS22000 certification scheme. We want to emphasize that these changes do not affect the outline of the scheme but mainly add detail and clarification to the earlier issue. This new version, dated July 2010, has been formalised and placed on www.fssc22000.com. An overview of the most important changes is also published here. Extension of the existing ISO 22000 accreditation to FS22000 shall be against the July issue of the FS22000 scheme.

Accredited certification as of 1 January 2011
Accredited certification is allowed by the associated certification bodies as of 1 January 2011. Until January 1, 2011 unaccredited certification audits can continue. After receiving accreditation the certificates have to be changed into accredited certificates. For an overview of the certified organizations you can visit our website. Certificates shall be registered on the website by the Certification Bodies.

Food Safety FSSC 22000, GFSI, ISO 22000

Health Ingredients Europe is going to be the most important event yet for everyone involved in the health ingredients industry. The number of attendees rises each time we hold this popular biennial show, being organized by CMP Information, will be held at Ifema – Parque Ferial Juan Carlos, MAdrid (Spain) between 16 to 18 Nov 2010.

Hi Europe 2010 will lead the way into Madrid, the first ever major nutraceutical and functional ingredients event held in Spain. This offers you the possibility to access new customers and continued growth opportunity in this exceedingly health conscious region.

Global ingredients suppliers – Now you have access to over 500 exhibitors from more than 90 countries under one roof. In just 3 days you can meet all the movers and shakers in the ingredients industry.

Hi Europe & Ni is more than just an exhibition! What else is happening at Hi Europe & Ni?

• Hi Excellence Awards – Celebrate the best innovations in the ingredients community, see who is nominated! Categories include: Heart Health, Digestive Health, Nutrition for the young and old, Sports Performance and Weight Management

• Hi Conference – Make the most of your time at HiE & Ni by attending our industry leading modular Conference. Pick and choose from 20 modules taking place over the 3 days! To view the full agenda please click here.

• Seminar Sessions – Stay on top of the industry’s newest developments, free to attend 30 minute sessions

• New product Zone – Find out what’s at the cutting edge in your industry, new ingredients in the spotlight!

• Ingredients in Action – The latest trends driving new product development, your the opportunity to taste the difference.

• Natural ingredients – Gain exclusive access to a one-stop market place for Natural ingredients.

Events, Ingredients Health Ingredients Europe

Ice creams with added pre- or probiotics can be formulated to have good nutritional and sensory properties, according to research, with careful balancing of the recipe to ensure acceptable taste, texture and colour.

The experimental ice creams made for a new study published in Journal of Dairy Science had counts of viable bacteria after frozen storage that met the minimum required to achieve probiotic effects. Moreover, most of the formulations of pre- and probiotic ice creams showed good nutritional and sensory properties.

“With a standard ice cream dietary intake (about 80 grams), it is possible to obtain at least 107 viable cells per day, which is necessary to achieve temporary intestinal colonization,” stated the authors, led by Dr. Di Criscio from the Università degli Studi del Molise, Italy.

“The benefits associated with soluble dietary fibre, probiotic microorganisms, or both, could bring attractive novel products to fulfil market niches. [Probiotic bacteria] … showed high survival at the end of production and good survival during frozen storage,” they stated.

Probiotic delivery

Milk and dairy produce make up some of the main products in the functional food arena, and are the major vehicles for the administration of probiotics and prebiotics in the diet.

The authors had observed that many new, and innovative functional dairy products are currently in development, including cheeses, yogurts, fermented milks, frozen yogurt, cheese-based dips, probiotic fermented lactic beverages, and probiotic fibre-enriched fermented milks.

They decided to evaluate the survival of probiotic microbial strains during ice cream storage because although ice cream has been deemed a potentially interesting vehicle, the effects of the freezing, thawing and storage process were unknown.

They also set out to see how the addition of these microorganisms and inulin affected the chemical, physical, and sensory characteristics of the ice cream.

Previous work

Several previous studies have suggested the potential for probiotic ice cream formulations, with a recent Brazilian study suggesting that probiotic ice cream shows ‘great potential’ , but successful formulation was dependent on overcoming the technical challenges of freezing probiotics

Another study suggested prebiotics could boost the texture of lower fat ice creams , offering potentially health friendly summer snacks.

Functional formulation

Counts of probiotic bacteria were found to be much higher in enriched ice cream than in control samples, reported the researchers.

No significant reduction in bacteria was observed after freezing and during the storage period, indicating that the storage temperature of minus 20°C did not negatively affect survival of probiotic microorganisms.

Ice cream with added probiotic microorganisms showed no significant variations of composition or functional properties. However, probiotic vanilla ice cream shown to have slightly lower taste intensity compared with the control ice cream.

Also, probiotic inoculated fruit ice creams had higher firmness than vanilla ice creams, due to the lower fat and higher sugar levels influencing the hardening process and storage.

The addition of prebiotic inulin altered the texture and functional characteristics of the ice creams. In particular, in ice creams with five and ten per cent inulin the overall firmness was seen to significantly increase, by up to 50 per cent.

Poor results were also observed for colour, which appeared more opaque with the addition of inulin, whereas better evaluations were found for flavour ratings.

The researchers stated the optimal formulation of prebiotic ice cream, with the best firmness characteristic, was found to be with 2.5 per cent inulin.

Synbiotic potential

Dr. Di Criscio and colleagues concluded that using formulations with 2.5 per cent inulin, it is possible to cover the 40 per cent intake needed for beneficial effects on intestinal microorganisms.

“Finally, it should be possible to produce a functional ice cream (synbiotic) with inulin (minimum 3 per cent) and potentially probiotic microorganisms,” stated the authors.

However they added that in vivo investigation into the effects of a synbiotic ice cream would be needed.

Source: Journal of Dairy Science

Ice Creams Functional formulation, inulin, prebiotic ice cream

Three new circular chocolate plaques have been added to the Unifine portfolio for Christmas 2010. A choice of colourful Santa, Christmas tree or giftbox design centres on each chocolate button-shaped plaque

Available in luxurious Belgian milk chocolate, Unifine’s round Christmas plaques come in boxes of about 462 pieces and are available from usual stockists.

11 Silver and Gold 2D Sugar Stars also feature in the 2010 festive selection from Unifine. Suitable for sprinkling on Christmas trifles and cakes, the stars will grace all manner of celebration fare.

Green and Plain Chocolate Holly Leaves, available under Unifine’s SUCREA banner, are said to come with red chocolate berries. There’s a third version – Marbled Chocolate Holly Leaf – which comes without the berries.

Back by demand are the company’s White on White Double Chocolate Stars and simple White Chocolate 2D Stars – 240 pieces and 700 pieces to a box, respectively.

Christmas ingredients are what the Unifine one-stop Christmas shop is all about. Caterers and bakers are guaranteed quality when they make cakes and figures using Odense marzipan from Unifine. There’s also icing of every type for creating snow scenes and Christmas bakery lines.

Fonds, flavours and fruit preparations combined with Crème Patissiere can be used to build ”the best takeaway” Christmas desserts. Put them in clear pots or use them in gateaux.

Source: Food Processing

Chocolate chocolate plaques, Unifine

AB Enzymes is launching what it calls the “next generation” bakery shelf-life extending enzyme, which is coming to market just days after the expiration of a patent that has so far dominated the market.

The firm’s Veron xTender product is a maltogenic amylase preparation, said to help improve and extend crumb softness, elasticity and freshness of bread.

Derived from bacillus subtilis, the enzyme breaks down flour starch by modifying the side chains of amylopectin. According to AB Enzymes, this slows down the retrogradation of products, delivering better overall freshness than previously available maltogenic amylase products in the market.

Protected market

The launch has been made possible by the recent expiration of a competing patent, explained the firm.

“Some European enzyme supplies were blocked on maltogenic amylase for many years by a patent that expired just a few days ago. This means that the market was previously dominated by only one European enzyme supplier,” AB Enzymes told FoodNavigator.com.

The new product will be available in all global markets except the US, where the existing patent protection extends to 2018.

Bread improvers

Veron xTender is a single strength product designed for use in bread improvers. It is said to be easy to incorporate into existing improver formulations since it has a broad dosage range.

AB Enzymes says this allows it to work “without any negative impact on the dough properties or processing parameters other than providing the desired shelf-life extending effect in the final baked product”.

“With Veron xTender we can finally meet our customers’ previously unmet demand for an alternative product and at the same time provide superior quality and value as well as a technically sound solution,” said Norman Burkardt, Industry Manager for the Veron brand at AB Enzymes.

“It will offer a much better performance, besides better softness it is in particular a better freshness and tenderness of the crumb, which is the key differentiator compared to previously used maltogenic amylases,“ the firm told FoodNavigator.com.

Source: Food Navigator

Ingredients AB Enzymes, bacillus subtilis, Bread improvers, shelf-life extender

Ingredients artificial sweeteners, global market