Baking&Snack - March 2012 - 58

CHEMICAL LEAVENING

using potassium-based baking soda and calcium-bearing leavening acids, baked foods have the potential to boost intake of two nutrients currently considered to be underconsumed: potassium and calcium.

Opening up choices
In recent years, chemical leavening choices expanded with the addition of calcium-based organic acids and reconsideration of potassium bicarbonate. About two-thirds of chemical leavening users blend their own baking powders. For these companies, the new choices add flexibility to the sodium-reduction toolkit, but they must consider cost, availability and functionality factors. Potassium bicarbonate, for example, provides a drop-in replacement for sodium bicarbonate with the same performance profile for most uses, according to Rob Berube, man-

Leavening ingredients ensure proper texture in tortillas, where they also function as dough conditioners.
ICL Performance Products

Earning bonus points for calcium, potassium

Americans eat an excess of sodium, estimated to be more than 3,400 mg per day, but they don’t get enough potassium or calcium. When the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee reported its recommendations, it described potassium, dietary fiber, calcium and vitamin D as “nutrients of concern” because they are so underconsumed. Less than 3% of the populace gets enough potassium to meet the adequate intake (AI) level of 4,700 mg per day. As for calcium, except for young children, the majority of the US population does not meet the AI, set at 1,200 mg per day for most adults. Calcium is well-known for its positive benefits to growing children, and awareness is emerging about its importance to heart health and reducing the risk of breast cancer. Potassium, however, is less commonly recognized. Potassium assists in muscle contraction, maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in cells, transmitting nerve impulses and releasing energy during metabolism. Diets rich in potassium help lower blood pressure, blunt the adverse effect of salt on blood pressure, may reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and may decrease bone loss. Specifically, the dietary guidelines committee’s report stated, “Increased potassium consumption modifies systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Approximately 57% of adults living in the US have prehypertension or hypertension, and many more have inadequate dietary intake of potassium. Thus, potassium is a nutrient of public health significance. ” Sodium, too, was deemed a nutrient of concern — but for the reason that it is so overconsumed.

ager, technical service, Church & Dwight Co., Inc., Specialty Products Division, Performance Products Group, Princeton, NY. However, the potassium analog has a “significant upcharge.” “Ammonium bicarbonate is far more versatile than commonly thought, but it does have limits,” he added. “For some applications, partial replacement of sodium bicarbonate with Flow-K potassium bicarbonate is the optimal answer.” When potassium bicarbonate releases all its carbon dioxide, the finished product’s physical characteristics will be no different than when using sodium bicarbonate. But if an excess of soda remains, the color will darken slightly because of the marginally higher pH of the residual carbonate salt, according to Mr. Berube. “Taste is not an issue as might be expected with other potassium salts,” he said. Ammonium bicarbonate volatilizes completely at temperatures above 60°C (140°F), thus it can be used without a leavening acid, leaving no residual salt. “However, its use is limited to products with no more than 3 to 5% finished moisture,” Mr. Berube said. Higher moisture levels will retain ammonia, negatively impacting taste and odor. Because of the odor, ammonium bicarbonate does not suit dry mixes or refrigerated dough products. “For sodium reduction, a formulator may consider a partial or complete substitution of sodium bicarbonate with potassium bicarbonate,” explained Barbara Bufe Heidolph, principal, marketing technical service, ICL Performance Products LP, St. Louis, MO, noting that substitution has consequences in cost, flavor, color and texture. “There are many choices for the leavening acid, choices that are zero- or low-sodium and have equivalent functional performance to sodium-based leavening acids.” ICL tailored its new Levona line of time-delayed-release CAPP leavening

/ Baking & Snack / March 2012

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Baking&Snack - March 2012

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