Interest in natural products has grown markedly in recent years. This has been reflected in a number of ways in new product activity, such as the use of all natural colors, flavors and other raw materials and in the growing use of GMO-free labeling.

In terms of product activity, launches featuring GMO-free claims and labeling remain relatively limited on a global scale. While nearly 13% of launches recorded by Innova Market Insights in the 12 months to March 2013 were marketed on an “additive-free” or “preservative-free” platform, nearly 7% were marketed as “natural” and 6% as “organic,” just 1.1% used GMO-free labeling.

In terms of products carrying GMO-free claims, snacks, dairy and bakery have the largest number of launches, reflecting the significance of GM ingredients in sectors using high levels of cereals for food or feed. They accounted for 14.1%, 13.3% and 12.5% respectively, of global GMO-free launches recorded, ahead of baby foods, meat, fish and eggs, confectionery and ready meals.

Lu Ann Williams, Director of Innovation at Innova Market Insights reports: “The demand for GMO-free labeling seems set to continue to grow as a marketing tool globally,” Williams concludes “as even where GMO foods have to be labeled, such as in the EU, there is still apparently demand for easy recognition of GMO-free lines as the use of logos and certification schemes continues to grow.”

Seasoning Transfer Netting combines the convenience of the company’s patented transfer technology with the shaping properties of tight-weave netting for a one-step process that forms and applies flavor, color and pattern to boneless and bone-in meats. Seasoning and coloring are preapplied to the inside of the netting to streamline the manufacturing process by eliminating the need for manual spice application which reduces waste and decreases mess and labor costs. Seasoned netting is available in a variety of patterns and can be customized to match any flavor profile. Changing the flavors on the line is as easy as changing the net. When processing is complete, the netting strips off cleanly and easily, leaving only the seasoning and pattern on the surface.

At this year’s IFFA, Frutarom Savory Solutions presented its wide variety of starter cultures, which allow for the production of versatile raw sausage variants. Frutarom Savory Solutions’ starter cultures are marketed under the umbrella brand BITEC, and include  variants that establish rapid fermentation processes as well as those that lower pH gradually. Visitors to Frutarom Savory Solutions’ booth were offered an impression of the wide spectrum of possible applications by sampling different European sausages, such as the South-European Chorizo, the Eastern-European specialty Kielbasa as well as the Northern Elk Salami.

In addition to starter cultures, the company develops and supplies ripening agents, seasonings and all-in-one solutions tailored to specific products – a service that is beneficial to customers, as Dr. Christian Hertel, R&D Manager Cultures at Frutarom Savory Solutions, explains: “We carry out in-house starter culture R&D work and production and also provide complementary ripening agents and seasonings specifically tailored to our starter cultures’ activities. This all-round service is unique in Europe and results in highly efficient processes and tailored solutions – and of course end products that convince thanks to their high quality and outstanding taste.”

The most recent development within the BITEC portfolio is a range of starter cultures which enable the creation of Italian style sausage specialties. Manufacturers can choose from a variety of starter cultures which initiate a slow ripening process – as is commonly used in Southern Europe. When sausage is allowed to ferment slowly, it develops a very mild, distinctive fermentation flavor. Using its comprehensive expertise in combining microbial strains, the company has also devised solutions which lead to this characteristic flavor even under faster ripening conditions.

Svetol^®, the top-selling slimming ingredient in the US, is taking centre-stage on the Naturex stand at this week’s Vitafoods Europe exhibition.

Developed from decaffeinated green coffee bean extract, Svetol^® is clinically proven to inhibit glucose-6-phosphatase and increase the rate of fat release from the adipose tissue – a unique mechanism that results in highly effective weight management. The ingredient is produced using Naturex’s proprietary extraction process, which ensures a unique and specific profile of active molecules, in particular chlorogenic acids.

Svetol^® has grown to become a phenomenon in North America. It is the #1 slimming ingredient in the US, and is now used in 100 co-branded products across the US andCanada. It has a Facebook page of its own with more than 2,700 ‘likes’ and boasts 1,400+ followers on Twitter

Antoine Dauby, Naturex Marketing Director, says: “Svetol^® is a real success story for Naturex. Even though it is an ingredient, it has managed to gain a very high level of recognition among consumers across North America. We’re confident Svetol^® presents a huge opportunity for companies in Europe, too, and we’re delighted to be highlighting its benefits and potential at Vitafoods.”

Vitafoods Europe is taking place at Palexpo in Geneva from 14-16 May 2013. Naturex is exhibiting on Stand 17035. Also at the show, Naturex is launchingEurope’s first clinically proven – and proanthocyanidin (PAC) standardised – organic cranberry powder targeting urinary tract health.

New Pacran^® Organic is an extension to the existing range of Pacran^® ingredients, which are clinically proven to reduce the recurrence of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Pacran^® ingredients are unique full spectrum whole cranberry powders, and are not based only on certain active extracts, such as PACs. Independent science demonstrates that full spectrum cranberry is more effective in helping to prevent UTIs.

Organic dietary supplements are only a small part of the overall market, but Naturex believes this is because there has been a lack of investment in gold-standard clinical research involving organic ingredients. With strong scientific substantiation behind it, Pacran^® Organic will enable companies to tap into this opportunity.

In addition, Naturex is introducing visitors to Vitafoods Europe to a new range of drinkable dietary supplement concepts that offer great taste, naturalness and efficacy, as well as the potential for strong branding and communication.

The four concepts are called: Sharpen Your Mind, Coach Your Body, Balance Your Life and Boost Your Vitality and feature a selection of active ingredients that have been the subject of EFSA-approved claims under the Health Claims Regulation and are now on the EU’s Article 13.1 list of 222 approved general function claims. These active ingredients are delivered by Naturex’s NAT activ™ range of botanical extracts, which contain standardised levels of natural vitamins and minerals.

Following its acquisitions in 2011 and 2012, WILD Flavors, one of the world’s leading producers of natural ingredients for the food and beverage industry, is continuing to pursue its international growth strategy this year. With a strong traditional base in Europe and the US, the well-established company now wants to increase its presence in emerging markets. The current focus is on Asia and South America.

With headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, WILD Flavors was founded on February 25, 2010 to consolidate the global flavor business of the owner, Dr Hans-Peter Wild. Rudolf Wild, which was established in 1931 by Wild’s father Rudolf, was integrated into WILD Flavors. In the course of this restructuring, Dr Wild allocated 35% of the new holding to the private equity company KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) on July 31, 2010. WILD Flavors currently operates 15 production sites for its flavors, ingredients and juice business around the world.

For years, WILD has been investing in the strategic expansion of its global business. “Our key goal is to continue optimizing our access to raw materials on a global basis as well as to keep expanding our logistics and sales networks,” comments Dr Hans-Peter Wild. To this end, in 2011 WILD acquired the AM Todd Group, the international global leader in natural mint oils and components, which maintained production sites in India and the US. In 2012, the company then invested in the juice sector at Cargill, which had state-of-the-art facilities in Amsterdam, Japan and the US.

India is one of the world’s largest growth markets. Acquiring the AM Todd Group gave WILD a subsidiary with a laboratory in Mumbai, among other things. Operations are scheduled to move into a new facility in an up-and-coming part of Mumbai by June 2013. The new site will also feature a lab for beverage applications. To date the employees there had focused on food applications, especially mint. Furthermore, WILD strengthened its team in flavor creation, sales and purchasing in the office in Mumbai. A total of some 30 employees will work for WILD in Mumbai, and the facilities are designed to accommodate future growth.

At its mint manufacturing site at Tarapur in the state of Maharashtra, WILD has also expanded its presence. It invested in a new production unit for fruit flavors. Furthermore, quality control for the raw materials and analysis of the different kinds of mint are conducted at a new lab. The next step will be the local production of beverage systems.

“Our recent investments in locations and staff have greatly enlarged our production capacity and product portfolio for the Indian market,” sayd Cosimo Trimigliozzi, COO of WILD Flavors International, who is behind the expansion in the new markets. “In India we are also in an excellent condition to expand our position there and to offer manufacturers premium natural ingredients for both beverages and food.”

This, however, is not the only news about business growth in Asia. WILD is also currently investing in the city-state of Singapore, where the company opened its first sales office in December 2012. It will serve as the hub for the ASEAN region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In addition to the metropolis of Singapore, ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. All in all, around 600 million people live here. The new subsidiary WILD Flavors Singapore will be the hub for supplying natural flavors, colors and extracts as well as natural mint flavors and oils to the beverage, dairy and confectionery industry.

In the upcoming years, WILD is planning to continue expanding its activities in ASEAN countries. WILD Flavors Singapore is scheduled to take on a laboratory for regional product development, and other sales offices in Thailand and Indonesia are to follow.

In addition to Asia, the Brazilian market is also full of promise for tomorrow’s food and beverage industry. “Over 190 million people live inSouth America’s most populous country: the middle class there is constantly growing, and consumers are willing to experiment. They like new flavors and innovative products. This gives us a great deal of potential,” Cosimo Trimigliozzi explains.

The beverage sector in particular is very promising. Based on current market data, annual growth of 3-5% can be anticipated. These figures are forecast for newer segments such as energy drinks as well as the market for classic soft drinks, which has become the world’s third largest.

At the moment WILD is expanding its position in Brazil. In addition to increasing its current business – WILD has maintained a branch office with a laboratory in Sao Paulo since 2000 – the corporation is also negotiating with a local manufacturer of extracts and flavorings. As a leading source of flavors, extracts, emulsions and compounds for the Brazilian market, it is an ideal complement to WILD’s portfolio and will provide direct access to the local market.

Dr Hans-Peter Wild is very satisfied with the major potential that the recent investments are opening up in these new markets. “We have set our course towards successfully expanding outside of Europe and the US. The growth prognoses are outstanding, especially in Asia and Brazil. In the mid-term, our company is certainly going to be able to exceed average market growth.”

PureCircle, the world’s leading producer and marketer of high purity stevia ingredients, is leading the European stevia industry into the next generation of stevia with Stevia 3.0. This truly innovative solution improves upon Reb A’s capabilities in several categories and formulations by blending innovative ingredients within PureCircle’s stevia portfolio to achieve superior taste and deeper calorie and sugar reductions.

“Stevia is not a singular ingredient, and with PureCircle’s expertise and proprietary blends, stevia provides unique calorie reduction solutions for the food and beverage industry. PureCircle’s expertise harnesses the best of stevia in Stevia 3.0 through extensive applications work and a deep understanding of stevia to help manufacturers reach the best tasting formulations with their stevia launches,” comments Jason Hecker, VP of Global Marketing and Innovation.

With growing consumer awareness and launches in the EU, PureCircle’s Stevia 3.0 concept presents manufacturers with tailor-made solutions for stevia formulation challenges to support successful functional and neutraceutical food and beverages launches.

Beyond formulations, PureCircle has developed resources and consumer insights to help clients determine how best to communicate messages in specific markets and benefit from this 0 calorie, natural origin ingredient with strong business potential.

“PureCircle is a global partner, not just a global supplier of stevia. Our innovation and expertise extends across our supply chain, from leaf to ingredient solutions, allowing us to help customers truly benefit from PureCircle’s dedication to unmatched stevia solutions. From application developments through stevia 3.0 and sustainability support through our carbon and water footprint as well as consumer insights, PureCircle provides the highest quality stevia solutions with a regional and local dedicated support for successful stevia launches,” adds Jason Hecker.

PureCircle will be attending the next Vitafoods Europe trade show to demonstrate through various applications how the innovative Stevia 3.0 can bring great taste with deep calorie reduction: showcased on the stand will be; a no added sugar and fortified orange and cranberry juice drink, orange hard boil candy with no added sugar, capsules containing omega oil liquid content, sweet 0 calorie tablets containing vitamin C, reduced sugar yoghurt, naturally sweetened sugar-free chewing gum.

Beyond application samples, PureCircle will exhibit on the stand the global growth of stevia in the industry with a showcase of successfully launched stevia-sweetened functional food products.

Visit PureCircle at Vitafoods Europe, stand number 20055 to find out more.

Barentz Europe, a leading international provider of innovative and standard ingredients and materials for the food & nutrition, personal care, animal nutrition, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries, has announced a name change to better reflect it business activities across continents.

“Changing the name Barentz Europe into Barentz International has been inevitable for a while,” says Hidde van der Wal, CEO of Barentz International. “Since 2012 we have had business operations in Asia, which generated a substantial amount of our turnover. In addition to recent strategic partnerships and take over’s, we have recently acquired a financial stake in lanolin provider NKC, which gives us a foothold in North America. This latest development made us decide that the addition Europe to our brand name doesn’t truthfully reflect who we are anymore.”

Pavel Kratochvil, Executive Vice President of Barentz International adds: “We continue to grow organically, through strategic partnerships and joint ventures and will continue to do that on an international scale. Although our heritage and a substantial amount of our turnover originates in Europe, we are growing fast into the Asian territories. With BRCS, our strategic partnership with Ravago, we are also very active in the Middle East and in Africa.”

Barentz has grown substantially in the last couple of years. In 2010 Barentz reported a turnover of Eur724 million. In 2012, Barentz realized a group turnover of Eur850 million, and is expecting to hit the Eur1 billion mark in 2014.

Food ingredients producer Huegli has installed a new Linkx TF500 tray erector with electro-pneumatic controls at its plant in Redditch

The company recently decide to upgrade its packaging operations for sachets of cook-in sauces. Key requirements for the machine were that it should be versatile, dependable and capable of future enhancement, and also that it should have a low initial purchase price.

After exploring the available options, Huegli decided to purchase a Linkx TF500 machine, a decision that was partly influenced by the very positive experience Huegli has had of working with Linkx and using Linkx machines in the past.

The Linkx TF500 with electro-pneumatic controls has been specifically developed as an entry-level machine that provides cost-effective access to automatic tray erection.

It can handle board blanks up to 500 mm x 500 mm and can erect almost any format of tray, including the shelf-ready trays with high backs and low fronts that are used in the Huegli application. The machine incorporates, as standard, a two-gun hot-melt glue system.

In this application, the formed and glued trays are presented automatically to the production line operatives, who load them manually with sauce sachets.

A UK government survey has found levels of trans fats in a range of processed foods has fallen considerably since 2007 thanks to industry reformulation efforts.

Now it is mainly naturally occurring trans fats that are found in UK foods as artificial trans fats were cut around 75% since 2007.

Natural trans fats are derived from ruminant animals such as cows and lambs and can occur in meat and dairy products.

The more common artificial trans fats come from industrial hydrogenation of vegetable oils and were previously widely used in processed foods for shelf-life, taste and texture purposes until a 1990s report linked trans fat rich diets to increased risk of coronary heart disease.

Where are levels highest?

A consortium that included the Institute of Food Research and a division of UK government’s Department of Health last week published an analysis of trans fat levels in 65 samples of various foods including pizza, garlic bread, confectionery, snacks, fats and spreads.

They found that concentrations of trans elaidic acid, the most predominant artificial trans fat, averaged at 0.2g/100g of food. Levels from six food categories including butter and battered cod collected in 2007  found an average elaidic acid concentration of 0.08g.

The highest concentration in the latest survey was found in cod fried in batter from takeaways followed by chips in takeaways.

The next highest levels were in dairy ice cream, garlic and herb baguettes, spreadable butter and pizza.

Natural trans fats: Health risk?

The report said: “The results show that levels of artificial trans fats in processed foods have reduced considerably compared with previous analyses of similar foods carried out over the last 20-30 years where available. Where samples contain higher levels of trans fats this is generally due to the presence of natural sources of trans fat in the product (eg dairy sources).”

“The health implications of ruminant trans fatty acids compared with industrial trans fatty acids are not clear but the low levels found in this survey are unlikely to be associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease.”

Removing trans fats

Over the past decade, the industry has been voluntarily working on removing trans fatty acid. Removal strategies have included using blends of oils such as palm, sunflower or rapeseed oil and processing techniques such as fractionation and interesterification.

In 1994, the UK Department of Health recommended that trans fatty acid consumption should not be above 5g/day or 2% of food energy.

A study published last year found that US population between 2003 and 2006 averaged 1.3g per person per day.

The UK’s Foods Standards Agency (FSA) found in 2007 that industry reformulation efforts had reduced trans fats to a minimum of 1% of food energy.

Beneo has introduced a new clean label rice starch range for texturizing fruit and vegetable-based baby foods.

The company said that the rice starch meets all industry and regulatory standards, is hypoallergenic, organic, and non-GMO, making it a clean label ingredient with functional benefits for manufacturers.

In particular, Beneo said that in-house trials had shown the ingredient to improve product stability in terms of viscosity, syneresis and shelf life. In addition, rice starch has a small particle size, allowing for a creamy texture without affecting taste or colour. Rice starch is also highly digestible, making it an attractive ingredient for baby food manufacturers.

“With a strong heritage in rice starches, Beneo rice derivatives are used worldwide as hypoallergenic texturisers from nature to improve the mouthfeel, shelf life and structure of food products,” Beneo’s product manager Rice Derivatives Pierre Donck said in a statement.

Thanks to our stringent production processes and testing procedures, there is no limit to the age at which consumers can benefit from the technical and nutritional advantages of our rice starches.”

The company is rolling out the ingredient range globally from this month.

Ingredients firm Mantrose-Haeuser has launched its Certicoat antisticking polish and glazing agent in Europe after success in the US and has also developed an organic variety.

“Certicoat 360 is used widely by the US confectionery industry as an antisticking polish and glazing agent and is now being introduced in Europe and other markets.”

Antistick ‘critical’

The ingredient is used to produce a gloss and to prevent gelatin gums from sticking together, which Hyde said was more than just a mild inconvenience to consumers.

“The control of surface sticking and scuffing through coating system design is critical in a number of major sectors of the industry including starch, pectin and gelatin gummies or wine gums. “

Organic version and powder launch

Mantrose has also developed an organic version for fruit snacks and gummies.

“Products including Certicoat 590 ORG have been designed to allow our customers to capitalize on new consumer trends, in this case the growing demand for organic certified gummies and wine gum products,” said Hyde.

The firm has also launched a new fine particle size powder blend of natural waxes called Crystalac 420. The powder blend is designed to give a shine to hard sugar shell confections such as chewing gum balls.

Lee Hyde said the powder provided faster development of gloss during processing, but gave no further details.

EHL Ingredients has introduced the smoky wheat variety freekeh to the UK food industry for use in composed foods like salads, soups and casseroles.

Freekeh – pronounced ‘free-kah’ – is native to North Africa and the Middle East, and is produced by harvesting wheat before it matures and burning away the chaff, which imparts a smoky flavour. The grain is then threshed and sundried, resulting in a cracked wheat product with an appearance like a green bulgur.

The company hopes the grain will attract attention in the same way as other ancient grains in recent years, such as amaranth, teff, kamut, millet and buckwheat – all of which have seen a steep rise in sales.

“Ancient grains have experienced a surge in popularity in the UK over the last five years, with increased demand for whole grain and plant-based foods a driving factor,” said the company’s sales director Tasneem Backhouse.

The company says the grain in easily prepared in boiling water and it has an excellent nutritional profile, higher in protein than brown rice, couscous or sweet potato, rich in vitamins and minerals, and with more fibre than many other grains.

Backhouse added that the ingredient has been trialed to ensure its flavour is maintained throughout the food production process.

The name freekeh comes from the Arabic word farīk,which means ‘rubbed’, referring to the threshing process.

Cargill has broken ground on a $100 million investment to construct a state-of-the-art cocoa processing facility in Gresik, in the East-Java region of Indonesia. The new facility is to meet the growing demand amongst customers for cocoa products and to encourage the development of the Asian cocoa sector.

The new facility will be Cargill’s first cocoa processing plant inAsiaand demonstrates the company’s commitment to develop and grow the Asian cocoa industry. The investment will also strengthen the company’s Indonesian cocoa sourcing network and cocoa sustainability activities.

Cargill will create approximately 200 new jobs in Indonesia, as well as additional positions in its existing R&D application centres in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, and in the company’s commercial network, which it is strengthening to better serve the needs of customers in Asia.

The new facility, which is expected to be operational by mid-2014, will process approximately 70,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans into a broad range of tailored products for customers in the Asian market. These products will include high quality cocoa liquor and butter, as well as Cargill’s premium quality Gerkens® cocoa powders.

“We are excited to be taking this step to strengthen our cocoa operations on the ground in Indonesia. We have seen a significant growth in demand for cocoa products amongst our customers across the region. This investment will enable us to support the growth of the local cocoa sector, process local Indonesian beans and provide high-quality cocoa products to serve the growing needs of our customers in Asia,” says Jos de Loor, president, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate.

The first stones are laid at a ceremony to mark the building of Cargill’s new cocoa processing plant in Gresik, East-Java, Indonesia.

The new facility is part of Cargill’s growth strategy in Indonesia’s cocoa sector and one strand of the company’s efforts to support long-term sustainable cocoa production globally. Through the Cargill Cocoa Promise, the company is growing and sustaining cocoa farming communities while meeting the growing global demand for sustainable cocoa beans by focusing on three areas: training farmers, supporting farming communities and investing in the long-term sustainable production of cocoa.

Cargill has already begun its successful farmer training programme in Indonesia which encourages the use of sustainable agricultural practices by smallholder farmers and the farming community. The company intends to train over 1,300 Indonesian smallholder cocoa farmers by 2015 through newly created Farmer Field Schools to improve their productivity, bean quality and, as a result of the training, increase the incomes of smallholder farmers and their families.

The company has also taken steps to strengthen its cocoa sourcing network in Indonesia. Cargill has been sourcing Indonesian cocoa successfully since 1995. The company now operates two cocoa buying stations across the country and, once the new cocoa facility is in operation, Cargill will double the quantity of cocoa beans it purchases from cocoa farmers to meet the demand for local processing, giving smallholder farmers a bigger market for their crops.

Jos de Loor continues: “We recognise that in order to meet the growing demand from our customers and to support the future of cocoa farming, we must invest in our own operations and in the supply chain. Through the Cargill Cocoa Promise, we are working with smallholder farmers, customers and local governments to help build a vibrant Indonesian cocoa industry with a long-term future. We have been working with cocoa farmers and their communities for many years, across a number of countries and regions outside ofIndonesia. Now it’s great to see this experience and our commitment being implemented with Indonesian cocoa smallholder farmers.”

The new facility and expanded sourcing operations in Indonesia will complement Cargill’s global network of cocoa sourcing and processing facilities located in Western Europe, Vietnam, Cameroon, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Brazil and the USA.

Symrise has opened its new research center at its headquarters at Holzminden in Germany. With the new building, the company is promoting the interdisciplinary research dialogue between its two divisions, Scent & Care and Flavor & Nutrition. Research and development form the basis of Symrise’s business activities.

Dr Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise, highlights the role of the new research center: “Around the world, new trends are coming into existence every day and consumers are developing new needs. We strategically incorporate these strong dynamics arising from individual markets and segments into our research work in order to develop innovative solutions early on. That is why we cross-link our business units and pool our research activities. In this way, we realize interdisciplinary projects and can optimally make use of our competencies in the areas of fragrances, functional ingredients and flavors.”

Symrise has invested €10 million in the new building. Per year, the group spends more than €100 million on research and development.

Spread over four floors and 2,400 square meters of floor space, the research center provides room for 90 workers. Along with offices, there are spacious communication and conference rooms for customer presentations and meetings with external co-operation partners as well as universities and institutes.

“With our new research center, we want to strengthen our expertise in research and development, which is the basis for a competitive position as well as for accelerated growth,” adds Dr Bertram. “A special point of emphasis was put on researching functional ingredients for healthy nutrition and conscious personal care.”

The company paid special attention to sustainability issues during construction of the building: Waste heat from the surrounding laboratory buildings is used in the form of steam condensate to provide at least 75 % of the heating for the new building.

The $11.5 billion global infant formula category is set for its biggest innovation push in years following the launch of a radical new ‘Staging’ concept by Arla Foods Ingredients. Built around Arla Foods Ingredients’ Lacprodan® portfolio of protein ingredients, Staging is an improved approach to infant formula designed to reflect the fact that the composition of breast milk changes significantly during lactation.

At present, formula-fed babies’ diets do not take account of this, and they are usually given a ‘static’ diet during their first six months. However, Arla Foods Ingredients has identified that the protein content of breast milk is dynamic and changes constantly during this period.

In response, the Denmark-based company has developed blends of specialised milk protein fractions that will help manufacturers create formulas that mimic the changing nutritional profile of milk more closely during this short – but critical – time in a baby’s development.

Pernille Hostrup, Business Development Manager at Arla Foods Ingredients, says: “Our new Staging approach means infant formulas can provide the right nutrients in the right quantities at the right time, to suit precisely a baby’s natural growth and development patterns during its first months of life. Human milk will always be the gold-standard for infant nutrition, but staging means formula-fed infants can now enjoy more of the long-term health benefits experienced by their breast-fed counterparts.”

At the heart of the Staging concept is a range of Lacprodan® milk protein fractions developed by Arla Foods Ingredients, which can be blended in varying proportions to create staged infant formulas that mimic the nutritional profile of breast milk more closely.

Extracted from high quality whey proteins, Lacprodan® ingredients provide the ideal amino acid profile to meet the needs of developing infants. This means formula manufacturers can reduce the overall quantity of protein in their products to levels closer to those found in breast milk, but still provide all the nutrients formula-fed infants need to develop healthily and grow at a similar rate to breast-fed infants.

Pernille Hostrup adds: “Traditionally, infant formulas for new-born babies have been much higher in protein than breast milk actually is, which means formula-fed babies typically ingest between 50% and 80% more protein than breast-fed infants. This often results in more rapid growth in bottle-fed babies and there is strong scientific evidence that this can lead to obesity and other health concerns in later life. But by adding the right blend of our Lacprodan® proteins to a basic formula recipe, manufacturers can now develop age-specific formula products that deliver the correct levels of nutrients to meet a growing infant’s true needs.”

Women are about 15% more likely to order dishes featuring fruit than men when eating out, and 35% more likely to order dishes featuring coconut, according to new data from digital food ordering service GrubHub.

These insights – and scores of others – emerged from an analysis of fruit-related orders from GrubHub’s database of 20,000+ restaurants in more than 500 US cities.

The research also revealed that fruit is featured in more than 7% of all menu items ordered, and that by order popularity, orange remains the top fruit, featuring in 29% of fruit orders, followed by lemon at 23%, mango at 22%, pineapple at 19% and strawberry at 15%.

Meanwhile, dishes containing fruit are ordered most frequently from May-July and least frequently from September-November.

When it comes to blends, strawberry is the most commonly blended fruit, and strawberry-banana ranks the highest, accounting for almost 12% of all fruit blend orders.

GrubHub then went on to look at the top fruits, and how they are being used in foods and beverages in restaurants, diners, delis and other outlets in its database. See below for a full breakdown:

What are the top menu items featuring oranges?

• Orange Chicken accounts for more than half of orange orders.
• Orange juice accounts for 30% of orange orders.
• Orange beef accounts for 4% of orange orders.
• Smoothies make up 2% of orange orders.
• Salads featuring oranges account for 1% of orange orders.

Meanwhile,oranges feature in 8% of Mandarin dishes, 7% of Cantonese dishes, 7% of Szechwan dishes, 7% of bagel orders, and 6% of Chinese dishes.

What are the top menu items featuring lemons?

• Lemonade accounts for 40% of lemon orders.
• Lemon Chicken accounts for 20% of lemon orders.
• Iced Tea with lemon accounts for 6% of lemon orders.
• Lemon Meringue Pie accounts for 3% of lemon orders.
• Lemon Soup accounts for 3% of lemon orders.

Meanwhile, lemons feature in 7% of Vietnamese dishes, 4% of Greek dishes, 4% of bagel dishes, 3% of smoothies, and 3% of Mediterranean dishes.

What are the top menu items featuring mangoes?

• Mango Lassi accounts for 24% of mango orders.
• Mango smoothies account for 14% of mango orders.
• Mango sticky rice accounts for 10% of mango orders.
• Mango chicken accounts for 5% of mango orders.
• Mango chutney accounts for 5% of mango orders.

Meanwhile, mangoes feature in 13% of Indian dishes, 7% of Halal dishes, 5% of smoothies, 3.5% of vegetarian dishes, and 3% of Vietnamese dishes.

What are the top menu items featuring pineapples?

•  Pizza accounts for 40% of pineapple orders.
• Pineapple fried rice accounts for 22% of pineapple orders.
• Pineapple smoothies accounts for 6% of pineapple orders.
• Pineapple chicken accounts for 4% of pineapple orders.
• Pineapple curry accounts for 3% of pineapple orders.

Meanwhile, pineapples feature in 4% of low-carb menu items, 3% of Thai food, 3% of low-fat menu items, 3% of classic diner cuisine and 2% of vegan orders.

What are the top menu items featuring strawberries?

• Strawberry smoothies account for 29% of strawberry orders.
• Strawberry milkshakes account for 18% of strawberry orders.
• Strawberry cheesecake accounts for 13% of strawberry orders.
• Strawberry lemonade accounts for 7% of strawberry orders.
• Strawberry mochi ice cream accounts for 5% of strawberry orders.

Meanwhile, strawberries feature in 8% of bagel orders, 8% of smoothies, 4% of diner foods, 4% of deli orders, and 4% of breakfast orders.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) has submitted comments to the FDA via international law firm Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, to address when an ingredient is chemically altered such that it would require a separate NDI notification.

The submission, CRN’s fifth in relation to FDA’s New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) Draft Guidance, calls on the agency to “take into account not only whether the chemical structure of the dietary ingredient has been changed, but also whether any change in structure is sufficiently significant to potentially cause dietary supplements containing the dietary ingredient to be unsafe for consumers.”

All five of the dietary supplement trade associations have identified several issues with the FDA’s controversial NDI Draft Guidance, but the “chemically altered” issue is one which CRN believes would greatly – and unfairly – expand the category of ingredients that would constitute an NDI, thereby inappropriately placing unnecessary and burdensome requirements on the industry.

The association is calling on FDA to examine not just the manufacturing process to determine what is chemically altered, but compare the starting and ending substances with an eye to whether those changes affected the safety of the end product.

CRN also urges FDA to consider the efficiency and effectiveness to be gained were the agency to focus on the chemical identity and safety of the dietary ingredient, as opposed to establishing an exhaustive list of manufacturing processes that do not chemically alter a dietary ingredient.

The small levels of DEHP that can be ingested via food do not pose a health risk, according to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR).

Arla Foods Ingredients has developed a ground-breaking ‘toolbox’ of natural improvement solutions offering bakers optimised production processes, better quality end-products, reduced waste and cleaner labels – all at the same time.

The Nutrilac® Natural Improvers range is an innovative portfolio of multi-functional ingredients offering targeted benefits for producers of bread, cakes, biscuits & cookies and bakery fillings. All are made from natural and functional proteins derived exclusively from milk and can be listed on-pack simply as ‘milk protein’.

The new ingredients are designed to provide industrial bakers with smoother and more efficient processes, promising easier handling of dough, batters and fillings. They also provide excellent stability, with the ability to lock in the air whipped into batters and the water kneaded into dough, resulting in optimum freshness, texture and resilience throughout a product’s shelf life.

Shelf life itself can also be extended using Nutrilac® Natural Improvers, because they help a product maintain perfect sensory properties for longer, cutting down on waste and increasing profit margins. The new ingredients can also improve the nutritional profile of a baked product by reducing fat content.

All of these substantial benefits are achieved using 100% natural ingredients, helping bakers maintain cleaner labels by avoiding the many synthetic improvement agents on the market today. The wide range of benefits provided by the ingredients offers manufacturers an excellent multi-functional alternative to gums, enzymes and emulsifiers, which are usually limited in their scope to a single benefit or function.

The new Nutrilac® Natural Improvers are being launched now in Europe andChina, with a global roll-out set for later this year.

Søren Nørgaard, senior manager at Arla Foods Ingredients, says: “We have long known that our existing protein-based egg replacement solutions provide a series of supplementary quality benefits. Our technologists have now taken those benefits and evolved them into a targeted toolbox which makes it easier for bakers to achieve great results every time, whatever their goal and whatever the product.”

He continues: “Our new Nutrilac® Natural Improvers offer bakers a huge variety of benefits that meet a comprehensive range of production needs, including optimised processes, better product quality and reduced wastage. They will appeal to consumers, too, because they will result in a healthier product with a cleaner label, free of the e-numbers and chemical names used for other improvement additives.”

There are four launch products in Arla Foods Ingredients’ new Nutrilac® Natural Improvers toolbox, each offering specific benefits designed to meet the majority of bakers’ needs:

* Nutrilac® CH-4650 – ensures a much more stable batter with better mixing tolerance, enhances cake surfaces by reducing stickiness, improves colour and appearance in cakes, and optimises creaminess by imitating fat in custard cream and other types of filling.

* Nutrilac® IM-8027 – a high-gelling protein designed to create excellent structure and strength in baked goods, providing optimum viscosity in most batter systems, greater water retention and excellent emulsification.

* Nutrilac® IM-5566 – provides softness in bread without reducing crumb resilience or elasticity, offers increased strength in cakes for better slicing quality, and stabilises aerated batter systems for higher volume and stability.

* Nutrilac® IM-7042 – offers improved mixing tolerance, produces a more stable batter and provides superb emulsification properties in a whole range of wheat-based baked goods, including bread.

Søren Nørgaard adds: “Our Nutrilac® Natural Improvers are truly innovative and the first ingredients of their kind. As such, they offer bakers the opportunity to produce perfect products every time and gain a genuine edge over the competition.”

On April 25, 2013, Symrise moves into its new research center at its headquarters in Holzminden. With the new building, the company is pro-moting the interdisciplinary research dialogue between its two divisions, Scent & Care and Flavor & Nutrition. Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise, underscores the innovative potential Symrise will gain from this investment.

Research and development form the basis of Symrise’s business activities. This is reflected in the new research center at the company’s headquarters in Holzminden. Work in the new building will begin following the festive opening celebration on April 25, 2013.

Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise AG, highlights the role of the new research center: “Around the world, new trends are coming into existence every day and consumers are developing new needs. We strategically incorporate these strong dynamics arising from individual markets and segments into our research work in order to develop innovative solutions early on. That is why we cross-link our business units and pool our research activities. In this way, we realize interdisciplinary projects and can optimally make use of our competencies in the areas of fragrances, functional ingredients and flavors.”

Symrise has invested € 10 million in the new building. Per year, the Group spends more than € 100 million on research and development.

Spread over four floors and 2,400 square meters of floor space, the research center provides room for 90 workers. Along with offices, there are spacious communication and conference rooms for customer presentations and meetings with external cooperation partners as well as universities and institutes.

“With our new research center, we want to strengthen our expertise in research and development, which is the basis for a competitive position as well as for accelerated growth,” adds Dr. Bertram. “A special point of emphasis was put on researching functional ingredients for healthy nutrition and conscious personal care.”

The company paid special attention to sustainability issues during construction of the building: Waste heat from the surrounding laboratory buildings is used in the form of steam condensate to provide at least 75 % of the heating for the new building.

About 20 percent of Symrise’s total staff works in research and development. Six percent of the company’s investments are also made in this area. Since the merger ten years ago, the company has applied for 411 patents and more than 1,500 product brands and trademarks. The company also created more than 600 new jobs during this period.

About Symrise
Symrise is a global supplier of fragrances, flavorings, cosmetic active ingredients and raw materials as well as functional ingredients. Its clients include manufacturers of perfumes, cosmetics, food and beverages, the pharmaceutical industry and producers of nutritional supplements. Its sales of € 1.735 billion in 2012 place Symrise among the top four companies in the global flavors and fragrances market. Headquartered in Holzminden, Germany, the Group is represented in over 35 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the United States and Latin America.
Symrise works with its clients to develop new ideas and market-ready concepts for products that form an indispensable part of everyday life. Economic success and corporate responsibility are inextricably linked as part of this process. Symrise thus takes sustainability into account in every part of its corporate strategy. The company was awarded the German Sustainability Award in 2012.
www.symrise.com

While until a few years ago, Stevia was mainly known among industry insiders, after the EU approved its use in food and drink, there has been a surge of new product innovations in the EU to capitalise on consumer demand. Indeed, according to latest research by Mintel on natural sweeteners, the widespread rollout of products containing Stevia resulted in a massive 400% increase in launches globally between 2008/2012 and 158% between 2011/12.

With the only year on year increases in new product development,Europeis experiencing phenomenal growth and is now a key market driver for Stevia. It accounted for a quarter (25%) of global new product launches containing Stevia in 2012, up from just 4% in 2011. Meanwhile, Asia accounted for half (50%) of all introductions in 2012, but declined from 63% in 2011. North America accounted for 15% of new product launches in 2012, down from 21% in 2011 and Latin America accounted for 9% in 2012, down from 11% in 2011.

David Turner, Global Food and Drink Analyst at Mintel, says: “Whilst countries such as France, Germany and Finland had allowed a limited number of Stevia products as early as 2009, 2012 was the first year that Stevia was allowed to be used in a wide range of food and drink categories in all EU markets and manufacturers have responded with a huge increase in new product launches. The number of new products coming to market in Europe is up, and interest seems high, but in some categories companies have struggled to turn that into real commercial success. However, that may be about to change. In the UK for example we are seeing strong sales for products that use stevia in combination with sugar to provide great tasting, low calorie food and drink.”

Recent growth has been fuelled by dynamic product innovation across a range of categories. Some of the most widespread use of Stevia is in the non-alcoholic beverages category which alone accounted for 31% of the global products launched containing Stevia in 2012 and the snacks category, accounting for 26%. Meanwhile, 13% of global product launches containing Stevia were natural table-top sweetener alternatives to sugar and 7% were dairy products.

Increased concern over obesity levels could also present an opportunity for Stevia in low sugar and low calorie food and drinks, as it appears that sugar substitutes are still struggling against traditional sugar, especially when it comes to taste. In the US, more than half (57%) of consumers believe that natural sweeteners such as sugar or honey taste better than low calorie alternatives and 44% agree that sweeteners leave an aftertaste or simply taste bad. Sugar substitutes also appear to be limited to sweetening drinks such as tea or coffee rather than wider use in baking, as some 44% of US consumers consider them too expensive to bake with and just 33% believe they are easy to use in cooking.

There are also positive signs for the future of the sector and the opportunity to respond to underlying consumer demand for simple, natural products. Indeed, as Mintel’s research shows, 55% of consumers in Germany, 47% in the UK, 45% in France, 26% in Italy and 22% in Spain would be willing to try products made using alternative sweeteners. Moreover, 56% of consumers in the UK are interested in trying sweets with natural sugar alternatives.

“Taste issues and also the fact that Stevia is much more expensive than artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose, suggest that rather than replacing sugar entirely with Stevia, it will be more effective to use a blend of sugar, Stevia and other additives – at least until consumers get more used to Stevia’s taste. Innovations that blend sugar with sweeteners offer a lower calorie sweetener suitable for cooking whilst claiming to have the same taste as sugar. Looking to 2013, if Europe can learn from the US, it should see continued steady growth in the Stevia market. To ensure market growth can be sustained over the long term, continued new product development is needed to improve taste and versatility combined with high levels of marketing support to drive consumer education and trial,” David Turner concludes.

Cargill’s cocoa and chocolate business has made its first premium payments in Ghana for the production of certified sustainable cocoa beans. In total 3,900 Ghanaian farmers received the payments for the first three months production of sustainable cocoa beans following their participation in Cargill’s farmer training programme.

The payments were made at a recent ceremony in Sefwi Bekwai, in the Western region of Ghana, attended by the Managing Director of Cargill Ghana and partners including the Deputy CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board; the licensed cocoa buying company Akuafo Adamfo; and the programme manager of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Solidaridad.

“This payment, is the direct result of a successful public private partnership working towards sustainable cocoa in Ghana,” explains Kojo Amoo-Gottfried, Managing Director of Cargill Ghana. “Working with the Ghana Cocoa Board, Akuafo Adamfo and Solidaridad has produced genuine positive results for all participants, particularly the cocoa farmers, who will be receiving further payments as the harvest period progresses.”

These premium payments are a result of Cargill’s Cocoa Promise, the company’s commitment to make a difference around sustainability in three key areas: training cocoa farmers; supporting cocoa farming communities; and investing in the long-term sustainable production of cocoa.

Cargill is on track to reach its target of training 15,000 farmers in the coming three years. 2,500 tonnes of UTZ Certified cocoa from this first harvest cycle have been processed at Cargill’s state-of-the-art plant in Tema, Ghana, ensuring a large part of the value chain remains within the country. UTZ Certified cocoa is part of Cargill’s efforts towards developing a sustainable supply chain and can be traced from the certified farmer to final product as it becomes Gerkens® Ghana cocoa powders.

Launched in 2012, the first phase of Cargill’s farmer training in Ghana has provided tuition in good agricultural practices such as pruning, plantation renewal and cocoa fermentation methods, and good environmental and social practices, with the aim of increasing productivity and yields.

Moving into its second phase, farms will be thoroughly mapped to determine precise yields. Soil will also be tested for acidity, alkalinity and nutrients to ensure that optimum growing conditions are achieved. In addition the training will also address broader social aspects, such as children’s education and HIV awareness.

David Kobina Aidoo, the Akuafo Adamfo district cocoa chief farmer based in Bekwia, says: “By using what I’ve learned through the farmer field school training programme I have a healthier farm with higher yields. By becoming certified I’ve received this premium payment for my crop, with other payments to come as the harvest period progresses, which is good for me and my family.”

Belgian, French and Italian authorities have agreed a preliminary list of botanical substances for use in foods and supplements, after a meeting in Rome yesterday.

Italy has indicated it will write the list into law in July, with France and Belgium set to follow.

German representatives also expressed support for the project, based on national lists in the three countries with input from a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) compendium that raises potential issues for about 900
herbals.

The European Commission’s Basil Mathioudakis also attended the meeting that may speed stalled EU-level harmonisation work around health claims and permitted substances.

The BELFRIT project, as it is called, was conceived at a meeting among plant science experts involved in the €6m EU-funded PlantLibra initiative, which is building a plant food science database, assessing safety and use and developing risk-benefit models.

Luca Bucchini, the managing director of Hylobates Consulting in Rome, was at the meeting and told us yesterday’s congress had been, “very good for the cause of botanicals.”

“The harmonised list is similar to EFSA’s compendium with the same experts that have worked on EFSA’s working group working with BELFRIT,” Bucchini said.

“It was particularly welcome that Germany’s Hartmut Waltner expressed appreciation for BELFRIT and, prodded by Basil Mathioudakis, indicated that Germany may be open to consider harmonised European legislation on botanicals that would prioritise safety and quality over claims.”

The move comes whilst botanical health claims are on hold at EU level, as the EC and member states deliberate what kind of science is appropriate to demonstrate their nutritional benefits.

About 1500 such claims were withdrawn from the nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR) assessment process in September 2010 after some fierce lobbying from the sector that insisted the existing scientific protocols would significantly damage the industry by wiping out almost all claims.

The use of traditional use data

It may be years before a new approach is agreed upon, with the main issue being how to treat traditional use evidence, which is currently carries little sway with EFSA’s health claims panel.

“Several member states have asked EFSA to further assess the safety of botanicals, given that its earlier guidance on the safety of botanicals has not worked in practice,” said Bucchini.

“It remains to be seen how EFSA will respond to this request, and how they will combine modern risk assessment methodologies, the tradition-centric approach of BELFRIT, and emerging science from research, such as that of PlantLibra.”

He added: “Overall, it is difficult to predict if a compromise among member states will be found, and when. Italy has promised to use next year’s EU presidency to make further progress in this area. Frustration with mutual recognition has been expressed by officials present, as setting the lowest consumer protection standard, and this may spur action.”

The BELFRIT project was discussed at a botanical claims congress in Brussels yesterday, where legal experts and scientists picked over the treatment of botanicals under the NHCR, with one lawyer suggesting the EU approach may be in contravention of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

Cost and the lack of a ‘silver bullet’ are still cited as an issue for reduced-sodium food, with savory products in general struggling with the challenge, but plenty of application-specific solutions abound, say industry players.

As part of FoodNavigator-USA’s special edition on sodium reduction, we talked to leading suppliers to gauge progress.

Patrick Stano, VP of Sales & Marketing, N. America for Dr. Paul Lohmann, explained: “Sodium chloride has some very unique properties and it seems that the biggest hurdle for formulators is the higher price for ingredients associated with sodium reduction when compared to the low cost NaCl they are used to using.”

Wayne Morley, PhD, Head of Food Innovation at Leatherhead Food Research, added that salt replacers are more expensive than salt, which limits usage. “This could be overcome if a salt replacement ingredient could be used at a lower level so that the cost in use was lower (as for sugar replacement ingredients).”

The issue

Sodium is a vital nutrient and is necessary for the body to function. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ) says that nine out of ten Americans consume too much sodium, and it estimates average intake at around 3,300 mg a day. Other research suggests the figure is even higher.

That’s quite a bit over the 2,300 mg of sodium per day recommended in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (Intakes are even stricter for those with hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease – for them, the level is 1,500 mg).

And with 80% of salt intake coming from processed foods, many countries have initiated salt reduction programs.

No magic bullet

Numerous ingredient suppliers offer sodium reduction solutions, but with so many different options available to formulators how can ingredient suppliers achieve success?

“By targeting specific applications and having good data to support the efficacy of your ingredient,” said Dr Morley.

“Different product types require different salt replacement ingredients and it is important to find the best matches. Application data from an independent source – like us here at Leatherhead! – is beneficial.

“A salt replacement ingredient that worked in many different product types would encourage usage,” he added.

Indeed, Tate & Lyle’s Soda-Lo is well-suited to topical applications such as potato chips, peanuts, and microwave popcorn, but it is not ideal for broths, drinks or cured meats, the company said recently.

Kraft Foods’ VP Research Development & Quality, Russ Moroz, recently told us that, while the company is on track to complete a three-year initiative to reduce sodium by an average of 10% across its North American portfolio, there is “not yet a silver bullet in the toolbox”.

Mineral salts

German mineral specialists, Dr. Paul Lohmann, believes that utilizing mineral salts to replace sodium chloride, a mineral salt, is the best method to achieve sodium reduction.

“While other companies utilize task masking, texture, surface area, and other techniques to try to overcome bad tasting ingredients, Dr. Paul Lohmann utilizes our 125-plus years of experience with mineral salts to combine them in the best ratio to optimize the taste and performance,” said Stano.

The company launched LomaSalt “C lassic” onto the market in 2009, and now offers the ingredient in a number of versions, each developed for different applications and desired properties, said Stano.

“We also have the ability to customize products for our customer’s needs,” he added. “LomaSalt is a proprietary blend of mineral salts selected and combined to provide the taste and physical properties of table salt and a 50- 100% reduction in the sodium content.”

“At Dr. Paul Lohmann we have successfully utilized LomaSalt in a wide variety of applications, including lowsodium bread, pH sensitive applications like cheese products, etc.”

From the depths of the earth

Another recent entrance onto the market is Swedish salt processor Salinity with its Saltwell mineral salt extracted from underground brine reserves below the Atacama Desert in Chile, South America.

Saltwell is described by as a one-grain salt with 65% sodium chloride (NaCl) and 30% potassium chloride (KCl).

Thomas Hultman, Saltwell Export Manager, told us that the ingredient is very easy to use, and, since it’s a naturally reduced sodium salt, “it can replace regular salt by one-to-one ration with no expensive re-formulation of a recipe”.

“Saltwell works very well, especially in bread products where we discovered no significant difference from using regular salt when independent bakers tested the product,” he said.

“We have also seen that Saltwell maintains the same process exchange rate
(ability to bind with water) as regular salt in production, which is very important for the overall production economy.”

The product was launched into the US market earlier this year, and Salinity anticipates that food manufacturers will begin to incorporate Saltwell into ready-to-eat products based on the lifecycle of their products.

“One leading food producer in Europe already uses Saltwell in ready-to-eat products,” he said.

Savory yeasts

Kevin McDermott, Technical Sales Manager for Savoury Systems International, said: “I think savory products across the board are struggling with sodium reduction. Sodium is the ionic stimulant for salty flavor, therefore removing it elementally removes the specific gestational stimulant that our body desires.

“Consumers return to buy what tastes good, and in the past, the low sodium products have not tasted as good.

That is coupled with the pressure for manufacturers to maintain sales and compete in a market where regular consumer purchasing habits may slide toward products formulated for, or nutritionally beneficial for consumer indulgence alone.”

Savoury Systems focused on specialization of how its ingredients relate to the application, he said.

“In order for a replacing ingredient to have a minimal effect as a latter cost driver, the ingredient has to be utilized to the maximum of its capabilities as a flavor enhancer. In order to do that, we really focus on matching the best yeast extract product for a specific application.”

“The major hurdles are cost, product stability, and maintenance of as an equally desirable flavor. Our ingredients take on that third challenge. By using a whole protein based ingredient like a yeast extract, a final product can maintain a high level of savory flavor and mouth-feel, allowing a reduction in the amount of sodium added for flavor contribution.

“When matching up the best yeast extract with the final application, the usage level of the yeast can be low enough that cost detriment is inhibited in the final formulation,” added McDermott.

Another company exploring the potential of savory yeast extracts is Sensient Bio-Ingredients, which recently launched its Sensasalt product line of yeast extracts claiming sodium reductions up to 50%.

The Sensasalt product line utilizes proprietary technology and application expertise to create specific formulations for a wide range of savory products, including dips & dressings, soups, sauces and gravies, breads & doughs and salty snacks, said the company.

Beyond the ingredients

Other options are available to the food formulator to reduce sodium levels in their products, said Leatherhead’s Dr Morley.

“Contrast effects such as layering or the use of encapsulates are examples of product technology solutions to maintain saltiness perception with less salt.

“Double emulsions (water-in-oil-in-water) in which the salt is concentrated in the external water phase can achieve the same effect.

“Finally milder processing can reduce the damage to product quality and enhance the saltiness, for example Shaka retorts compared to static or rotary.”

Editor’s Note: This article provides a snap-shot of some sodium reduction ingredient solutions and is not intended as an exhaustive review of all the options.

Originally from Asia, BubbleTea has now also conquered other continents. Particularly, the bubbles that burst in your mouth have won over the hearts and minds of the customers by storm!

Döhler has developed and produces alginate pearls for the food and beverage industry that hold a liquid and flavourful core. The bubbles are manufactured in the Döhler plant in Europe, using only natural flavours and colours. This ensures a consistently high level of quality for your consumer.

What’s so special about Döhler Bubbles: Not only can they be used in combination with tea and fruit syrups, they also open up a world of potential for dairy and food products.

LomaSalt^® 2.0 is an innovative composition of high value mineral salts. It enables sodium reduction with consistently good taste! The creation of healthy food was never easier! 

• Authentic alternative to cooking salt
• 50 % less sodium with 100 % taste
• Pure, typical salty taste without off-taste
• Cooking salt can be replaced 1-to-1
• EFSA Health Claim “Potassium supports normal blood pressure”

Benefit from LomaSalt^® 2.0 and equip your product towards sodium reduction and heart health. As people are looking for healthy and delicious foods they will honor your innovative spirit!

EHL Ingredients has launched a brand new natural ingredient to the UK food sector – Freekeh (pronounced “free-kah”).

An ancient grain native to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, this roasted green cracked wheat boasts a toasty aroma and nutty taste as well as a strong nutritional profile.

Light green in colour and with a dry texture, the grain is wheat that has been gathered before it matures and then roasted during production, imparting a distinct smoky flavour. The name ‘Freekeh’ is derived from the Arabic word al-freek, which means “rubbed” referring to the rubbing of the wheat grains to rid them of their shells. Packed with protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals, the grain owes its exceptional nutritional profile to being harvested while the durum wheat is still young.

A versatile grain, Freekeh is ideal for food manufacturers, chefs, restaurant owners and caterers to add to salads, soups and casseroles. Easily prepared in boiling water, it is a tasty accompaniment to Middle Eastern and Arabic-style main courses as a high protein alternative to brown rice, cous cous and sweet potato.

The grain is set to follow the trends of other ancient superfoods such as quinoa, which has seen its crop prices triple between 2006 and this year*, and amaranth, buckwheat, kamut, millet, sorghum and teff, which have all seen a considerable rise in popularity.

The importer, blender and packer of natural food ingredients supplies new Freekeh in varying quantities, from 1kg up to 25kg bags.

Tasneem Backhouse, Sales Director at EHL Ingredients comments: “Ancient grains have experienced a surge in popularity in the UK over the last five years, with increased demand for whole grain and plant-based foods a driving factor.

“With it’s exceptional nutritional profile, Freekeh is being hailed as the next big ancient grain receiving universal praise from celebrities such as TV chef Jaime Oliver and TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey. It has at least four times as much fibre as some other comparable grains and also has a low glycemic index so is suitable for managing diabetes.

“We are delighted to offer this product to food manufacturers and the foodservice sector and are confident it will be popular among consumers, who are always on the look-out for the next big food trend.”

BCC Research estimates that the global market for ‘functional foods’ will continue to grow both within in-home dining and eating out and in 2013 will be worth an estimated £176.7 billion**. It is therefore essential food manufacturers stay ahead of these trends to ensure they offer fashionable foods to meet ever-changing consumer demand.

Tasneem continues: “We understand that manufacturers and chefs have to work hard to offer successful end products and dishes that consumers will love. To stay ahead of the game, it’s essential to keep a keen eye on emerging food trends and offer innovative products and ingredients, such as Freekeh.

“We work with many leading food manufacturers, brands and foodservice outlets to provide our natural herbs, spices and ingredients and can even work with product development teams to develop custom blends or organic varieties.

“Our products are 100% natural and have been trialed and tested to ensure flavours are maintained during the food production process resulting in high quality dishes that end users will love.”

Naturex is to launch Europe’s first clinically proven – and proanthocyanidin (PAC) standardised – organic cranberry powder targeting urinary tract health.

New Pacran^® Organic is an extension to the existing range of Pacran^® ingredients, which are clinically proven to reduce the recurrence of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Pacran^® ingredients are unique full spectrum whole cranberry powders, and are not based only on certain active extracts, such as PACs. Independent science demonstrates that full spectrum cranberry is more effective in helping to prevent UTIs.

Pacran^® Organic will be introduced to the European market for the first time at the forthcoming Vitafoods Europe 2013 exhibition, which takes place in Geneva from 14-16 May 2013. Naturex will exhibit on Stand 17035.

Dan Souza, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing – DBS Division, commented: “In Europe, organic dietary supplements are only a small part of the overall market. We firmly believe this is because there has been a lack of investment in gold-standard clinical research involving organic ingredients. With strong scientific substantiation behind it, we believe Pacran^® Organic will enable our customers to tap into this fantastic opportunity.”

Pacran^® Organic is part of the NAT life™ range, Naturex’s portfolio of ingredients offering scientifically proven benefits and unique compositions achieved through proprietary processes.

The International Nut and Dried Fruit Council, INC has provided new details and event updates for the 30th Anniversary World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress, which will be held 21-23 May at Hotel Ritz-Carlton Arts in Barcelona, Spain.

Attendance at the 2013 Congress is confirmed at record level, with 1,080 participants from 57 countries to date, for a stimulating three-day program to exchange knowledge and ideas in market development, supply chain, consumption, product innovation, food safety, nutrition and research.

“The size of the exhibition, technical sessions, meetings, events and networking opportunities coming up in May is incomparable, highlighting again why the INC World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress is the industry’s ‘must-attend’ event. It is fantastic to see such encouraging response. Year after year the INC Congress breaks records” says Goretti Guasch, INC Executive Director. “Despite this growing number of attendees, it is our commitment to keep direct contact with our members and to deliver a first class service”

3 Days to Gain an Exclusive Insight into the Nut and Dried Fruit Industry

This unique event will attract participation from 57 countries as it provides the only international platform to share and debate industry’s most relevant and hottest topics. It offers representatives from the international nut and dried fruit industry in-depth information in a series of round tables for each nut and dried fruit, and satellite meetings on cashews, macadamias, almonds and hazelnuts.

In addition to the technical program, the Congress will feature a Scientific Seminar and Nutrition Update on current challenges and key facts concerning food safety and trade, and the latest scientific findings related to health and nutrition; the INC General Assembly and the presentation of the 33rd World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress –Melbourne, Australia 2014.

Besides the technical sessions, the social programme will provide an indispensable opportunity for delegates to network, meet key people in the industry and strengthen business ties.

Expanding the Congress Experience: Meeting Point and Exhibition Area

The Congress virtual Meeting Point is a social networking tool to enhance delegates experience and expand their networking connections. INC members coming toBarcelonacan already contact other attendees and exhibitors, and even setup on-site meetings before and during the event. The Meeting Point enables INC members to maximise their time onsite by providing an easy way to connect with other attendees and exhibitors.

Given the success of the Exhibition area in previous Congresses, showcasing in Barcelona will offer a great opportunity for companies to display products, services and technology to the target audience.

Across 200 square metres of exhibition and hospitality space, attendees will be able to visit stands and learn about innovative services, technologies and products with companies from Belgium, China, France, Germany, China, Japan, Moldova, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.

First World Forum for Nutrition Research Conference

The Palace of Congresses of Reus will host the First World Forum for Nutrition Research Conference, on 20-21 of May, 2013. Under the theme “Mediterranean Food on Health and Disease”, the conference will include afternoon sessions exclusively dedicated to nuts and their health effects on diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and antioxidant components. Distinguished scientists around the globe are joining us to exhange ideas and learn about the latest scientific findings. 

New INC Home Grand Opening

Monday, May 20th, will mark the Grand Opening of the new INC Headquarters, which coincides with the 30th Anniversary of INC’s foundation. More than 500 guests will enjoy an open doors day and an evening rich in activities and entertainment, including the welcome by the INC Founders and a cocktail dinner. At 6:00 pm, the Palace of Congresses of Reus will embrace the ceremony of recognition and delivery of plaques to the 72 New INC Home Donors by the Founders of the INC.

Afterwards, delegates will have the opportunity to visit the new headquarters and their facilities, which are walking distance from the Palace of Congresses, and the 2,500 sq m Arboretum, a living collection of a large variety of worldwide nut and dried fruit trees.

INC Awards: Highlighting the Best of the Industry

INC Awards are the premier international showcase of excellence for the nuts and dried fruit industries. The ceremony of the Golden Nut Award and the Innovation Awards will take place on Thursday, May 23, 2013, during the Gala Dinner.

INC is pleased to announce that this year’s winner of the Honorary Golden Nut Award is Jasper Sanfilippo. John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (JBSS) was founded in 1922 as a pecan shelling operation in Chicago, IL. Jasper Sanfilippo served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman, and under his leadership, JBSS grew from a small pecan shelling operation to a multi-facility manufacturer and processor of tree nuts and peanuts with sales exceeding US$700 million.

As for the Award for Excellence in Research and the Award for Excellence in Gastronomy, INC is glad to announce the winners: Dr. David Jenkins and Chef Ferran Adrià.

For more information, please visit www.nufruit.org.

Unilever has described tea as the ‘hottest beverage’ in the global drinks landscape, and one with unlimited opportunities as a natural product with scientifically proven health and wellness benefits.

Executive VP of global beverages at Lipton tea brandowner Unilever (beverages account for around 12% of the firm’s business; €6-7bn in terms of turnover) Winfried Hopf, was speaking at the 2013 Innobev Global Beverages Congress in Warsaw, organized by Zenith International.

“For me and Unilever, it’s the hottest beverage in the beverage landscape”, Hopf told delegates, and one that increasingly appealed young consumers, particularly in cold RTD form, and due to social media support from celebrities such as Rhianna, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga on platforms such as Twitter.

“It’s a category with power, because it serves half of our population. And it’s a category with scale, with one trillion cups of tea served every year,” Hopf said.

Unlimited opportunities for industry and consumers
Tea held “really unlimited opportunities” for both industry, Hopf said (Unilver estimates that the category is worth €145-150bn worldwide) and consumers, with the latter searching for real goodness inside brands and products.

“Tea is the category and the product that delivers against those requirements, because it’s not just a delicious drink, it’s more. Firstly, it’s natural, healthy, revitalizing,” Hopf said.

“It gives focus for your brain and wellness for your body. It’s full of goodness and it stimulates body and mind in the most positive way.”

Discussing tea’s health and wellness benefits, Hopf added: “Additionally, it is a quite affordable treatment, in a world of increasing health concerns and restrictions, and we expect it to accelerate, with such functional benefits and growth as a category, even more so versus today.

And tea’s health benefits were not simply a marketing story, Hopf said, since there was scientific proof, for instance, that its antioxidants and flavonoids helped C VD and cancer and slowed the ageing process.

Taking tea upmarket

Tea’s category sales spanned both hot and cold servings, Hopf said, noting that tea was one of the few drinks to do so successfully, with sales split almost equally between the two segments.

“While hot tea is the category creator – building credibility, trust, talking to a much more adult consumer, cold tea brings a huge amount of dynamism to this market, and opens up a new consumption occasion, and access to a much younger consumer,” he said.

Unilever’s fascination with tea stemmed from its scale, growth and the fact that – despite accounting for 29% of global beverage volumes, the category only commanded around 13% of value. “That is the point that makes us at Unilever so excited, because there is a real opportunity to uptrade this category,” Hopf said.

He added that premium growth opportunities lay in tea machine capsules (where firms like Nestle sell its Special-T system capsules at a x6 premium to normal teabags), and in out-of-home, since 82% of tea consumed is now sold via grocery channels.

Nestle’s best-selling tea machine SKU was blueberry muffin, Hopf said, a flavor that has little to do with tea, while bubble tea’s success also took tea in a “sweet treat and indulgence” direction.

Despite decades of research and debate, there are still questions about the suitability of population-wide salt reduction. Can some people safely consume more salt than others?

The short answer is yes. Some people are more sensitive to salt, including certain ethnic groups, older people, and other groups with a high incidence of hypertension. Salt restriction is important for those with heart conditions, certain types of kidney and liver disease, as well as those with high blood pressure or at risk of high blood pressure. But for others, strict salt restriction may be less important.

That said, most people consume far more than the 5 g per day recommended by the World Health Organisation –an average of 8 to 12 g in Europe – and the WHO says reducing intake to 5 g per day is good advice for everyone.

One of the main arguments for population-wide salt reduction is that the link between reduced salt intake and reduced blood pressure is well established – through population-based studies like the Intersalt study–and high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

On the other side of the debate, some argue that just because A leads to B and B leads to C , that doesn’t necessarily mean that A (high salt intake) leads to C (higher risk of heart disease and stroke).

But while it’s easy to test for whether someone has high blood pressure, it’s not always easy to pinpoint whether someone is at risk of high blood pressure, so policymakers have tended to take a precautionary approach and have recommended reduced salt intake for the entire population.

Potential harm?

Purely from a health perspective, this wouldn’t matter if there were no potential downsides to population-wide salt reduction, but there are scientists who suggest there could be.

In particular, a major review of 167 randomised controlled trials published in the Cochrane Library and the American Journal of Hypertension in 2011 challenged the current status quo on salt reduction policy. The Danish researchers found that although cutting sodium consumption did decrease blood pressure, it also tended to increase levels of hormones, cholesterol and triglycerides, which are all thought to be risk factors for heart disease too.

Lead author Dr Niels Graudal, senior consultant in internal medicine and rheumatology at Copenhagen University Hospital, said at the time: “In my opinion, people should generally not worry about their salt intake.”

The researchers called for long-term trials and more studies to work out if the benefits of salt reduction outweighed potential harms.

‘No signal on clinical events’

However, responding to the review, Dr Larry Appel, director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, said that it was hard to reconcile existing data with the idea that salt reduction might be harmful.

“Importantly – there is NO signal from sodium reduction trials on clinical events,” he said via email.

Additionally, there is some evidence that population-wide salt reduction may be associated with lower incidence of heart disease and stroke.

In Finland, where a salt reduction campaign began in the 1970s, average consumption of salt fell by about a third over 30 years, to about 7 g a day for women and 8.3 g a day for men. According to a 2006 study published in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, during the same time period, average blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) fell by more than 10–mm Hg, and there was a 75% to 80% decrease in both stroke and coronary heart disease mortality in Finland.

Dr Appel commented: “I can’t attribute all of the benefit to sodium reduction, but again it is hard to believe that there would be a net benefit from the intervention if indeed sodium reduction were harmful.”

The bottom line?

The suitability of population-wide salt reduction policy continues to attract strong debate among academics, but for those with hypertension, heart disease and many other conditions, cutting salt continues to be a first step in controlling blood pressure.

For everyone else, for now at least, the old advice remains: Moderation in all things – including salt.

Purdue University nutrition researcher Berdine Martin sees potential for potassium to be the next “really hot” nutrient emphasized in food science. 

That would be good news for potato farmers, who produce a crop high in both vitamin C and potassium. Martin is assisting in potato research that she believes will provide the first data on the health benefits of potassium derived from a food source, rather than a vitamin supplement.

The study, led by her department head Connie Weaver, is funded by the Alliance for Potato Research and Education, which promotes research on the health benefits of potatoes and french fries. Martin argues research has largely neglected potassium, known to lower hypertension and improve heart health.

“The potential for potassium is huge in terms of blood pressure,” Martin said. When consumed in food, she expects the study will show potassium is more fully absorbed and lasts longer in the system, as it’s slower to digest than supplements.

Purdue is now selecting 30 participants for nine six-day dietary trials. Health comparisons will be made between participants fed potatoes and those who take dietary supplements with varying amounts of potassium, including a placebo. Martin said it’s pilot research and hopes the initial findings will lead to future grants.

Anlit Advanced Nutrition, Israel, will launch Yomi Magnesium at Finished Products Europe (VitaFoods), Geneva. This new, innovative, all-natural magnesium supplement for children is designed specifically to taste great while addressing magnesium deficiency in children ages 5-14.

In response to increased customer demand, Steviva Brands, Inc., one of the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors of stevia-based sweeteners and other bulk-ingredient sweeteners, has introduced SteviaSweet RA98 TM, the sweetest and most highly concentrated product in its stevia extract line

Rousselot has launched a range of synergistic gelatine systems to improve texture, stability or emulsification in a range of products.

Introduced under the brand name Synergy Systems, the systems are combinations of gelatines – or gelatine with other ingredients like pectin – intended to boost the functionality of each ingredient by virtue of their combination.

Rousselot sales and marketing director Hans Langereis said that the company used its knowledge of the added functionalities that could be created through combinations of gelatines or gelatines with other ingredients to produce the range.

“The food industry needs reliable, practical and efficient ingredients to bring innovations to the market,” he said. “Our Synergy Systems have been created to provide the inspiration and technology that food formulators need to create exciting and great-tasting new food products.”

The company’s systems include:

-AcidoGel, for making acid stable marshmallows, which it says allows for new flavour possibilities in marshmallows;

-NeutralGel, for texture and improved stability, to mimic fat and promote flavour release;

-ResistaGel, for consistent confectionery quality in warm climatic conditions; and

-EmulsiGel, for clean label stabilisation and emulsification of oil-in-water emulsions.

Swiss flavour and fragrance giant Givaudan has reported a 2.7% increase in sales in the first quarter of 2013, aided by strong gains in snacks and drinks – but the company still missed analyst estimates, on poor fine fragrance sales.

The company reported Q1 sales of CHF1.09bn (about €894m), while the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was CHF1.12bn. However, Givaudan reiterated its sales growth forecast of 4.5% to 5.5% for the year.

Sales in the Flavours division were C HF 571.8m (about €470m), a 3.7% increase on the previous quarter on a like-for-like basis, and a 1.9% increase in Swiss francs.

The company said sales grew in developing markets, including in Africa, China, India, Indonesia and Eastern Europe – and sales were up in mature markets in Western Europe and North America too. However, gains in mature markets were offset by declines in Australia, Japan and Korea, the company said.

“Growth by segments can be attributed to double digit gains in Snacks and strong performance in Beverages and Dairy,” it said.

Meanwhile, sales in the company’s fine fragrance division fell 5.5%, with the biggest declines in Europe and North America.

The fragrances division was aided by consumer goods sales, meaning an overall increase in the Fragrance division of 3.6% to C HF517.1m (€425m).

Epax, the leading Omega-3 concentrates company, will be demonstrating its unparalleled expertise on stand 16040 at this year’s Vitafoods exhibition in Geneva, taking place on 14 – 16 May.

Epax is the world’s leading B2B supplier of premium, highly concentrated marine-derived EPA/DHA Omega-3 oils to the global dietary supplement industry.  Its clinically proven top-quality formulas are developed with various EPA/DHA concentrations and ratios to target specific health conditions and it is this aspect which the company will focus on at Vitafoods 2013.

Speaking at the Supplier Seminar Theatre on 14 May at 14.35, Epax’s Scientific Advisor Dr. Morten Bryhn, a specialist in cardiology and internal medicine, will speak about ‘Inflammation – A Three Step Process Mediated by PUFAs’.  Ongoing inflammation is often associated with sustained elevations of chemical mediators of inflammation, known as pro-inflammatory biomarkers.  Dr. Bryhn will discuss the various mechanisms by which polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) affect these biomarkers.

Epax has a long, distinguished history of marine oil production.  The company is dedicated to constantly endeavouring to improve the purity, quality, and innovation of its product portfolio, as well as the proprietary production and purification technologies it uses in its manufacturing process.  Epax products are manufactured to pharma quality control standards.

This enables Epax to set its own production specifications which are beyond established regulations and as a result, Epax is constantly setting new purity and quality standards for the industry.  Epax has also recently updated its product specifications with even lower maximum values for environmental pollutants and in fact Epax even beats its own standards with up to 60-90% in relation to actual average production values. 

Traceability is also a crucial factor in Omega-3 oil manufacturing and the company prides itself on being able to trace the oil from the moment the fish is caught through the entire manufacturing process. Traceability is the prerequisite for sustainability and Epax is committed to only sourcing fish oil from sources certified by independent 3rd parties.  Because of its unique position in the Omega-3 marketplace, Epax also maintains a consistent and constant stock of crude oil and can offer continuous supply security to meet customer demand.

On the innovation side, Epax has invested significantly in next generation large-scale SMB concentrates for ultra-high concentrates, which will be manufactured at the new UK  facility. This is currently in development and products will be commercialized Q3 this year.

AkzoNobel Salt Specialties has partnered with Givaudan to produce a one-to-one salt replacer for up to 40% salt reduction in processed meat.

The ingredient, branded Suprasel OneGrain TS-M100, is a combination of sodium chloride, potassium chloride and flavour in every grain, which the companies say allows it to taste, flow, blend and dissolve in exactly the same way as ordinary salt.

Speaking with FoodNavigator, business development manager for OneGrain Matthijs Bults said that the incorporation of flavour does more than just mask the bitter flavour of potassium chloride.

“The flavour restores the meat taste profile and even delivers succulence in the meat,” he said.

Marketing manager Sander Tierolf added: “The succulence is all thanks to the flavour technology from Givaudan. We are experts when it comes to salt, and they are experts when it comes to taste.”

“If you take sodium out you lose a lot of functionality and you lose on taste,” said Bults. “This is really a nightmare for product developers. …This is a quick solution which reduces time to market.”

After bread, processed meats are the next largest source of sodium in European diets. With many countries striving to reduce sodium intake on a population level, the processed meat industry is one sector of the food industry under pressure to cut salt in their products.

Suitable for both smoked and cooked meats, the ingredient has been developed to meet European requirements for salt reduction, but ingredients for other regions are in the pipeline.

“For example, the larger companies in the United States, they prefer to go with natural ingredients,” Bults said.

The companies say that this is just the first in a range of salt reduction systems to be produced under the partnership.

President of Givaudan’s Flavour Division Mauricio Graber said in a statement: “Working in partnership with a salt company such as AkzoNobel Salt Specialties is a new and innovative approach to reducing sodium levels in the food industry. Through this partnership we have been able to combine Givaudan’s flavour expertise with AkzoNobel’s salt delivery technology to create a product which brings additional performance benefits to processed meat manufacturers.”