Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

Puratos is launching its bakery enhancers in the Middle East and in Asia in response to growing demand for “western type” cakes with a long shelf life, said the firm.

The cake improver Acti-fresh is an enzyme and emulsifier that enhances the freshness of industrially produced cakes, muffins, swiss rolls and cake donuts by blocking the staling process of the starch in the cake product, according to Puratos.

The ingredients can increase the perceived softness, moistness and freshness of bakery products by between 30 and 40 per cent, three weeks after baking, claims the food ingredients supplier.

Distribution challenges

After success in Western Europe, the ingredients supplier has decided to launch its shelf life enhancers in countries such as China, where western-style cakes are on the rise, said Paul Baisier, senior product manager, Patisserie Mixes at Puratos.

“Cake manufacturers are seeing the opportunity to produce long shelf life snack cakes to satisfy a new type of consumer who is switching from traditional Asian snacks to cake snack products, such as swiss rolls and cupcakes,” he said.

However, these snack cakes are sold in supermarkets, petrol stations and many local grocery shops that are based far away, said Baisier, this leads to huge logistical and distribution challenges where six, nine and even 12 months shelf life are required, Baiser explained.

Puratos recently launched two new Acti-Fresh ingredients for brownies and Asian style snack cakes and will introduce Acti-Fresh for chocolate cakes by the end of this year.

Source:  Bakery and Snacks

Bakery, Ingredients Bakery, emerging markets, Puratos

Loders Croklaan has introduced two new shortenings to its SansTrans range to replace trans fat in bakery products, while also reducing saturated fat content and cost in use, the company claims.

Loders Croklaan highlighted that the food industry is under renewed pressure to remove trans fat from its products, as states and local governments, retailers and certain market segments are demanding complete elimination of artificial trans fat, as a growing body of research has linked it to increased risk of heart disease. In particular, it cited Walmart’s January announcement that it intends to eliminate all remaining artificial trans fats from packaged food products.

And the recently released Dietary Guidelines for Americans have also recommended that Americans eat as little artificial trans fat as possible.

The new shortenings are SansTrans VLS 30, designed to offer a 30 percent reduction in saturated fat without increasing cost, and SansTrans VLS 40 emulsified shortening, intended to reduce saturated fat by up to 15 percent, while also decreasing shortening cost by up to 10 percent a year. Both shortenings are designed for use in cookie, cake, and muffin applications, the company said.

Vice president of R&D at Loders Croklaan Dr. Gerald McNeill said: “The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans states that trans fatty acid consumption should be as low as possible and to try to avoid foods that contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Although saturated fat is a healthy alternative to trans fats where a solid fat is needed for functionality, SansTrans VLS 30 and 40 offer the user a further benefit of lower saturated fat and reduced annual shortening cost.”

The company said that the new shortenings allow companies to cut total calories from fat and total fat on nutrition labels, both of which are “key attributes when formulating products to meet today’s governmental Dietary Guidelines.”

Source: Bakery and Snacks

Ingredients Bakery, SansTrans VLS, Saturated fat, trans-free

Increased consumer awareness of the potential health benefits of vitamin D is opening up opportunities in fortification, according to results of a new survey.

The proportion of American consumers believe that vitamin D plays a great role in maintaining or improving their health has increased to 44 percent, up from 37 percent last year, according to a US survey conducted by Angus Reid Strategies for Lallemand.

But while consumers may be more aware of the benefits, their interest for vitamin D-rich foods appears to focus on bread that naturally rich in vitamins (56 percent) than fortified bread (6 percent).

Vitamin D refers to two biologically inactive precursors – D3, also known as cholecalciferol, and D2, also known as ergocalciferol. The former is produced in the skin on exposure to UVB radiation (290 to 320 nm). The latter is derived from plants and only enters the body via the diet.

Both D3 and D2 precursors are hydroxylated in the liver and kidneys to form 25- hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), the non-active ‘storage’ form, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D), the biologically active form that is tightly controlled by the body.

While our bodies do manufacture vitamin D on exposure to sunshine, the levels in some northern countries are so weak during the winter months that our body makes no vitamin D at all, meaning that dietary supplements and fortified foods are seen by many as the best way to boost intakes of vitamin D.

One such option is bread, being a staple of many cultures. Jean Chagnon, CEO of Lallemand, supplier of vitamin D-rich bakers’ yeast, pointed to recent findings from Professor Christel Lamberg-Allardt from Helsinki University that found that bread baked with a baker’s yeast containing vitamin D2 maintained blood levels of the vitamin to approximately the same extent as a D2 supplement over a four-week period.

“Bakers using our yeast therefore have a head start in helping meet this important dietary requirement,” said Chagnon. “In addition, we expect to receive soon a positive response to our FDA petition aiming to amend the current regulations to allow levels of up to 400 IU of vitamin D per 100 grams of baked foods using our yeast.

“This will provide bakers with an even greater opportunity to respond to the growing consumer awareness of vitamin D’s benefits, allow bread to naturally become the primary dietary source of vitamin D (perhaps ahead of milk) and strengthen bread’s healthy attributes,” he said.

Other findings from the survey included the findings that the most common vitamin D-rich food source is milk (74 percent), followed by yogurt (40 percent), orange juice (21 percent) and cereals (18 percent). However, only 10 percent of the respondents perceived bread as a source of vitamin D.

Bakery, Ingredients Bakery, Vitamin D, yeast

The Baking Industry Exhibition (BIE) is working with its exhibitors and an impressive list of market leading trade bodies and associations to demonstrate the latest innovations and technologies for the bakery and snacks sectors.

BIE will continue to focus on the whole range of production environments including volume production, craft baking, packaging and bake-off. A full range of technologies for processing and packaging, as well as ingredients and materials will be demonstrated.

The new ‘Craft Baker’s Shop’ will enable new and existing exhibitors to demonstrate a host of innovative and exciting new products to help independent bakers increase their retail offering. Bakers are increasingly trying to offer customers a wider range of products to increase their footfall and average spend. The ‘Shop’ is dedicated to retail products that can be sampled and the ideas taken back try in visitors’ own outlets.

After the success of the Bakery Live in 2008, it’s back to help improve bakers’ product ranges and profitability. A fully functioning bakery will be producing exciting new products as well as old favourites. Some of the nation’s best bakery demonstrators will be using the latest machines and raw materials from Europe’s foremost ingredient and equipment suppliers.

California Raisins are back with their Future Baker of the Year competition. The Live Event will take place on each of the 4 days of the show and is open to teams of 3 people working from colleges or companies that are working towards a recognised national bakery qualification.

And a series of Master Classes from inspirational bakers in the industry will be available every day at the BIE Theatre.

Exhibiting companies already include many of the leading suppliers to the sector,these include Benier UK, DCL Yeast, Double D Engineering, Kern, PFM, Raque Food Systems, Reiser, Rondo Doge, Britvic, Reynards, Pentagram and Tom Chandley, to name a few. And the list is growing quickly.

Daren Rose-Neale show manager, William Reed Business Media, which organises the exhibition, commented: “The recent success at IBA 2009 (International Trade Fair: World Market for Baking), Anuga, the international food fair, as well as UK events demonstrates the value of exhibitions to help companies recover from recessionary influences and improve profitability. BIE is well placed to continue the upward trend and showcase the very latest technology developments and market trends.” (389)

What they said about 2008:

Valsemollen: “The quality of visitor at BIE is exactly what we are after.”

British Bakels “We had 190 leads in the first three days of BIE.”

Source: Baking Industry Exhibition

Events Bakery, Baking Industry Exhibition, BIE, snacks