Prepared Foods - August 2008 - (Page 61)

cover story novelty of a powdered, instant orange breakfast beverage that provided vitamin C and needed no refrigeration. How times have changed! Everything old is new again…but with new technological twists! The encapsulation of nutritionally beneficial, but not always optimally flavored ingredients, such as long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, allows the development of nutritious products that also have a great taste. file, function and targeted delivery of a host of different ingredients. Many nutrients and phytochemicals are “bad actors” in various food systems, because they can impart their own undesirable flavors, foster lipid breakdown or even interact with other nutrients in a way that fosters either molecular deterioration, precipitation or loss in bioavailability. Encapsulation can create a barrier between a reactive compound and its immediate environment and is a means to overcome these challenges in nutrient fortification. Creative systems that release aromas only when the product is heated in the consumer’s microwave, or deliver different flavors in a consecutive order when a chewing gum is chewed, also benefit from microencapsulation. Controlled release technologies used in many industrial, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications are finding creative approaches for use in foods. Microencapsulation technology is no longer a laboratory curiosity, but it has become a key competitive technology for food ingredient suppliers who are seeking to broaden the portfolio of applications for their ingredient offerings and to differentiate their products. Today’s new proprietary techniques of more complex encapsulation methods make what was once sophisticated food science in the days of Tang and the astronauts now seem like child’s play. The encapsulation of sensitive ingredients has become one of the most important and innovative technology areas in the food industry, helping to meet consumer demands for uniquely healthy and natural products, while making incompatible ingredients actually coexist and function properly in food and beverage systems (where their use was never before thought possible). Compatibility aside, some of these ingredients cannot always withstand the rigors of processing, storage or further preparation in the home without some kind of protection from heat, shear, oxygen, light Protecting Ingredients Microencapsulation is a technology that is proving to be invaluable to ingredient suppliers who want to differentiate and build value into their products by offering improved stability and functional performance for a growing array of applications. “The need to utilize stable nutrients and ingredients with health benefits, and new and exotic flavors, is driving the need to microencapsulate and new ways to do it,” says Pretima Titoria, Ph.D., section manager of Ingredients at Leatherhead Food International in the U.K. (Some primary reasons for ingredient encapsulation are shown in the chart “Why Encapsulate?”) Today, there is pressure on the global food industry for all ingredients and even processes to go back to being as “natural” as possible. But, natural ingredients that have a specific functional role in food and beverage systems, or that provide unique health benefits, tend to be more reactive. This means they often require encapsulation as a protective barrier to prevent them from interacting with other components in their immediate environment and vice versa. The addition of sensitive ingredients—including flavors, nutrients, phytonutrients, enzymes, long-chain lipids, natural colors, antimicrobials, antioxidants, natural preservatives and even probiotic organisms—to food systems where they are traditionally incompatible, is now the norm. This drives the demand for specialized delivery systems in all kinds of food products, such as frozen and prepared foods, beverages, chewing gum and other confectionery items, dry baking mixes and finished baked goods. (See chart “Technology Assists New Products.”) Encapsulation also is important to product developers as a means to offer protection to sensitive ingredients from hostile product, package or consumer environments, or, alternatively, protecting a food formulation from a “hostile ingredient,” such as reactive, iron-based fortificants that have high bioavailability. In addition, microencapsulation can be used as a tool to control the retention, release pro- www.PreparedFoods.com ● August 2008 61 http://www.PreparedFoods.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Prepared Foods - August 2008

Prepared Foods - August 2008 Table of Contents Hitting the Shelves Promoting Craveable Foods and Beverages It’s a Small World MarketWatch Regulations: Safety Dance A Taste of Southeast Asia Flavor Secrets: Asian Five-spice Flavor Secrets: The Well-seasoned Potato On the National Menu To Serve and Protect: Flavor and Nutrition Protection Fat Applications in Transition: Creation of Good vs. Bad Fats A Tasteful Formulation Balance Nutrient Density and Dairy Foods R and D Applications Seminar: Formulation Information R and D Applications: Some Flavors Like it Hot R and D Applications: Prebiotics from a Conifer? R and D Applications: Seeing Red (Foods) R and D Applications: A Probiotic with Survival Skills Abstracts

Prepared Foods - August 2008

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