Food Processing - November 2007 - (Page 20)

With a few twists of the wrist, you can add fresh, Parmesan cheese to your most-savored dishes. The block package features a mechanism that keeps the cheese in place during grating, and secures it where you left off until you’re ready to grate the next time. No searching for the grater or fumbling with peeling the packaging back, this cheese is ready to go out of the refrigerator. The built-in grater provides the perfect grated cheesy “gooeyness” to any dish. - Jill Russell, Digital Managing Editor Taking a shoT aT bad cholesTerol Nearly 76 million Americans are living with high or elevated LDL, otherwise known as “bad” cholesterol, and many others are concerned about their cholesterol levels. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Unilever North America rolled out Promise activ SuperShots, the first fruit and yogurt mini-drink (3 oz.) with added natural plant sterols, ingredients clinically proven to help actively remove cholesterol as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. In fact, some 150 clinical studies show that 2g of plant sterols a day can lead to a 15 percent reduction in cholesterol. Plant sterol-containing foods should be used twice a day with meals. That may sound like a lot but, put into perspective, Supershots contain about 5 to 10 times the average plant sterol content of a regular diet. You would need to consume 425 tomatoes, 150 apples or 70 slices of whole-grain bread to get an equivalent level of plant sterols. Unilever is betting concerned consumers would rather opt for a 3-oz. shot of yogurt with 70 calories, 3.5g fat (zero saturated fat) and fiber. According to a survey by St. Petersburg, Fla.-based HealthFocus Intl., 30 percent of shoppers say they are more likely to choose foods and beverages because they are fortified with extra vitamins, minerals or other nutrients, up from 24 percent in 2002 – so this is a good gamble. Available in three flavors – Strawberry, Peach, and Raspberry – the mini-drink also contains heart health essentials omega-3 alpha linolenic acid and omega-6 and is a good source of vitamin E. - Diane Toops, News & Trends Editor chicken in 30 seconds? is ThaT for real? Two years ago in this space, we marveled at the arrival of tuna fillets in shelf-stable pouches from all three of the top tuna packers (www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2005/535. html). Once feared by many home cooks, this seafood was of prime quality, already marinated and ready in 15-30 microwave seconds. This year saw the arrival of “America’s favorite protein” in apparently the same pouch from one of those same tuna companies. Bumble Bee in January launched Prime Fillet Chicken Breasts: 4-oz. of skinless, boneless, grilled chicken, fully 20 • FOOD PROCESSING NOVEMBER 2007 cooked and kept fresh, even shelf stable, in that vacuum-sealed pouch. Varieties are Garlic & Herb, Southwest Seasonings and Barbecue Sauce. Chicken may be a familiar and simple dish, but it’s one of those animal proteins that needs to be cooked for a long time. And unless it’s breaded and fried (and that’s unhealthy!), it’s not the most flavorful meat. So imagine the taste of a chicken fillet that’s been sitting in its marinade for months (don’t let that frighten you!) at ambient temperatures. Further imagine it cooking in 30 seconds. The packaging may have been familiar for the company, but the protein was not. This is Bumble Bee’s first venture outside of seafood. In announcing this stretch for his company, Christopher Lischewski, Bumble Bee CEO, said research indicated more people would buy poultry if it were easier to prepare. Why didn’t Tyson think of this? In all fairness, Tyson and other poultry companies have quick-fix, fully cooked products, but they take 2-3 minutes. That’s not an eternity, admittedly, but it’s a lot more than 30 seconds, and they’re not shelf stable. At $2.99 a pack, it’s simultaneously a reasonably economical entrée and an amazing $12 per pound up-sell for chicken. As a guy who often gets home late but tires of cold meals or the typical microwave oven fare, this is a delicious and elegant item for the center of the plate. Now, the slow part is waiting for the Minute Rice to catch up. - Dave Fusaro, Editor in Chief Personalized ProducTs To meeT sPecific needs Some 70 percent of U.S. households start the day with chilled orange juice primarily for their daily dose of vitamin C. But health-conscious shoppers, particularly aging baby boomers, would like to piggy-back other healthy attributes with their morning OJ. So Coca-Cola Co.’s Minute Maid unit, Houston, launched Minute Maid Enhanced Juice in two new varieties: Minute Maid Multi-Vitamin and Minute Maid Active. They create a triumvirate with Minute Maid Heart Wise juice, which contains 1g of naturally sourced plant sterols (Cargill Inc.’s Corowise), clinically proven to help reduce cholesterol. These 100 percent orange juice products are a customized choice for consumers who want to zero in on specific health problems. Multi-Vitamin contains 16 essential vitamins and minerals including antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, zinc, selenium, calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid and B6) and chromium. Active contains 750mg of glucosamine HCI, derived from a vegetarian source, per serving to help support healthy joints. Incidentally, brain health is the next frontier for the compaWWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2005/535.html http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2005/535.html http://WWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - November 2007

Food Processing - November 2007 Contents Editor's Page NewsBites Regulatory Rollout Food Biz Kids Our Favorite Products of 2007 Ingredients Product Development Plant Operations Packaging New Product Profiles Toops Scoops

Food Processing - November 2007

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