High-performance Blends
Custom powdered food products, featuring only the best ingredients, help to provide peak performance while maintaining a reasonable cost. Blendex Custom Blending works closely with customers to make sure their product is up to spec, and the company is recognized as one of America's quality formulating, blending and packaging processors of food products. The food safety principles of TQM, the FDA and AIB, combined with kosher and HACCP certification, ensure product quality and peace of mind in today's world. Blendex Custom Blending, Ron Carr, 800-BLENDEX, rcarr@blendex.com, www.blendex.comDitching the Dust
A proprietary method of manufacturing and drying that effectively removes all of the fine particles that cause dust can help make manufacturing more efficient. Using Sensient Colors' DUSTMASTER[r] Blue 1 will result in faster processing speeds and easier handling, with no hang-up in weighing and transferring equipment, or sticky equipment surfaces in high-humidity environments. This new form will not leave a costly trail of blue color on personnel or in the facility, and it will eliminate cross-contamination issues. Sensient Food Colors North America, Dennis J. Reid, 800-325-8110Powdered Eggs Ease Worries
A cost effective alternative to liquid, frozen or dried whole eggs is available in powder form. Parmalat Canada's Eggstend[r] is an all-dairy egg replacement powder made from whey protein concentrate, which provides the functionalities of whole eggs without the handling issues and volatile pricing. Eggstend currently is being used to replace whole eggs in bakery products, fresh pasta, salad dressings and many other products. Parmalat Canada, 877-891-0811, ingredientsinfo@parmalat.caCompany Named Principal Distributor
GTC Nutrition, a business unit of Corn Products International Inc., has been named the principal U.S. distributor of Aquamin, a natural calcified mineral source. Supplied by Marigot Group Ltd., Aquamin is available in a variety of forms including Aquamin F, a very fine powder which is ideal for liquid and dry applications; Aquamin S, a sea mineral source designed to enhance the nutritional profile of liquid and other food products such as carbonated beverages and frozen deserts; and Aquamin TG, a granulated natural calcium source for use in dietary supplements. Last year, GTC and Marigot introduced CalciLife[tm], a prebiotic mineral formula offered by GTC that combines the benefits of plant-derived sea minerals with the nutritional benefits of short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS). GTC Nutrition, Trina O'Brien, Trina.O'Brien@Cornproducts.com, www.gtcnutrition.com
Grilled Flavors for Added Flavor Depth
These flavors give the illusion of grilled ingredients to all types of products including entrées, side dishes, sauces, condiments, soups and other mouth-watering foods. Chr. Hansen presents a wide variety of grilled vegetable flavors that can be customized. They are offered as single vegetables (such as tomato, bell pepper, onion, carrot and scallion), or in vegetable blends (such as fajita and southwestern varieties). The flavors are available with clean labels and add depth to products that are unable to go through caramelizing or grilling processes. Chr. Hansen Inc., Karen Wood-Brasel, 800-558-0802, karen.wood-brasel@chr-hansen-us.com,www.chr-hansen.comRaspberry Flavors with Depth
Raspberries possess a profound, sweet-tart flavor profile and are considered to be the most intensely flavored members of the berry family. Raspberry flavors have become a popular addition to beverages, tea beverages, yogurts, ice cream, syrups, nutritional bars and other foods. Robertet Flavors offers a wide variety of raspberry flavors and profiles: Red Raspberry Flavor, Black Raspberry Flavor, Blue Raspberry Flavor and Sour Raspberry Flavor. These flavors feature a host of profiles, including fresh, floral, jammy, ripe and seedy, and they are available in natural, liquid, water-soluble and kosher forms. Robertet Flavors, Gretchen Schleck, 732-981-8300Sugar Surprise
On the average, Americans eat the equivalent of about 31 teaspoons of added sugar per day. That extra 500 calories is about 20% of our total calorie intake, per an article in Tufts University's Health&Nutrition Letter (June 2004).The newsletter says that is too much sugar, and that U.S. Dietary Guidelines state, for example, that a person consuming 2,800 calories daily should consume no more than the equivalent of 18 teaspoons of added sugar daily, or 10% of total calorie intake. The World Health Organization also recommends limiting sugar to no more than 10% of total calories, excluding the naturally occurring sugars found in fruits (fructose) and dairy foods (lactose). Besides the concern for good oral health, eating too many sugary foods may reduce the occasions of eating healthier, nutrient-dense foods.
Sugary snacks and beverages are the biggest contributors of sugar to the diet (there are 17 teaspoons of sugar in a 20-oz. soda). Some surprises: one cup of tomato soup contains four teaspoons of added “sugar.”
Natural Color Blends
A line of natural color blends for use in natural food/NOP-compliant bakeries has been introduced. ColorMaker Inc.'s color blends are light-, heat- and pH-stable in typical bakery applications such as sweet breads, cupcakes, cookies and muffins. Furthermore, the natural color blends are completely soluble in sugar-based icings, reducing the chance of separation or uneven icing color. The blends produce vibrant yellow, red, orange, blue and green colors, and can be mixed to produce an entire visual range of exciting colors. ColorMaker Inc., Stephen J. Lauro, 714-572-0444, inquire@colormaker.comIQF Line Perks Foods Up
Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) products are perfect for vegetables, poultry and omelet fillings, breaded products and much more. Sargento's cheese, meat and vegetable filling innovations include cooked, blended and formed matrixes and shapes, and they are sized to meet client's precise specifications. The company's special IQF process provides formulators with custom products frozen individually and packaged according to their needs, all prepared in a USDA meat- and dairy-approved facility. From sauces to dips and sticks, the IQF product line offers variety as well as convenience. Sargento Foods Inc., 800-795-7090,www.sargentofoodingredients.comHigh-performing Omega-3 Fish Oil Ingredients
The recent FDA heart health claim for foods including omega-3 EPA/DHA has consumers searching for a trusted source of EPA/DHA in foods. Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd. (ONC) has introduced MEG-3[tm] brand Omega-3 fish oil. The MEG-3 brand encompasses all of ONC's omega-3 fish oil ingredients, including the company's FDA-notified GRAS powdered food ingredient, and its complete line of EPA/DHA dietary supplement ingredients (available in standard 18/12 format and in concentrates, such as the popular 40/20 EE). The MEG-3 line has a high nutritional density, as well as superior mixing qualities. Additionally, the company claims it is the only fish oil ingredient to be verified by the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) verification program. Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd., Lori O'Connell, 902-480-3210,www.ocean-nutrition.comOrganic, non-GMO and Solvent-free Soybean Oils
A solvent-free line of organic soybean oils is perfect for the growing natural salad dressing, sauce, and marinade markets, as well as for snack food and frying applications. Endura Products LLC is marketing and selling the natural oils under the Nexsoy[r] brand name. Strict “identity-preservation” systems manage the beans to eliminate the possibility of GM beans making their way into the closed system. Nexsoy soybean oils are then expeller-pressed and physically refined without the use of chemical solvents and refining caustics, for naturally stable, non-hydrogenated soybean oil. Spectrum Foods Inc., Rob Kirby, 217-391-0091, ext. 12, rkirby@spectrum-foods.comMushrooms Add “Meaty” Flavor
Mushroom flavor products add complexity with a meaty taste to meatless burgers. The Nikken Foods Company's mushroom flavor products[r]used in vegetarian burger applications[r]are available in powders, bullion and concentrates. The varieties include Mushroom Extract Powder (2103-an extract of the Champignon mushroom), providing a mild mushroom aroma with a full, clean, non-earthy flavor; Shitake Powder (2106-dried Shitake mushroom heads and stems ground to a fine powder), providing a smoky, woody mushroom flavor; and Shitake Extract Powder (2111-extract of dried Shitake mushroom stems and heads), providing a smoky, woody flavor. Nikken Foods Company, Herb Bench, 636-532-1019, benchnstl@aol.comDrinking Away the Pounds
New research hints L-theanine, an amino acid found in abundance in green, oolong, and black tea, may have a role in weight loss. A study published this year in In Vivo assessed the weight loss-inducing effects of green tea, and several of its constituents, alone or in combination, in young mice.The study results indicated that Suntheanine[r], a chirally pure L-theanine manufactured by Taiyo Kagaku, prevented body weight and abdominal fat gain (either with or without caffeine) when compared to a diet without green tea components. Previous animal studies have shown a combination of green tea catechins with or without caffeine to have possible anti-obesity effects, possibly exerted through increased thermogenesis.
Suntheanine has been the subject of a variety of pre-clinical and clinical studies focusing on relaxation, immunomodulation and pre-menstrual syndrome. Taiyo International, Scott Smith, 763-398-3003, scott@taiyoint.com
