Baking & Snack - July 2016 - 59

FORMULATION
Emulsifiers

Bakers challenge emulsifier
suppliers: Get rid of PHObased materials but ...

Keep the

Performance
by Laurie Gorton

Have your regulatory specialists talked to you yet about
emulsifiers? These everyday bakery ingredients help
bread dough stand up to machining and stabilize cakes
and icings. They limit staling and improve performance.
But now, legal use of several may be affected by the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA)'s decision to revoke the
Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status of partially
hydrogenated oils (PHOs).
And you thought it was just about shortenings.
"Historically, PHOs and fully hydrogenated oils were
used to create emulsifiers," said Jim Doucet, manager of
emulsifier technology, Corbion Caravan. "But the fats and
oils - the sources for making emulsifiers - are changing."
Still, bakers can expect the newest emulsifiers to
continue to toe the line in expected functionality.
Emulsifiers belong to a class of ingredients defined
by what they do. "Other than the PHO issue, the end
user, the baker, is not so concerned by what emulsifiers are made of. Instead, they buy them for their functionality and conformity with regulations," observed
Jim Robertson, global product manager, emulsifiers,
Corbion Caravan.
Right now, FDA's action gives these ingredients an
important job. "The role of emulsifiers is to help bakers
transition from partially hydrogenated shortenings to
non-hydro," said John Neddersen, senior application scientist, emulsifiers, DuPont Nutrition & Health.
As a sign of the times, however, a number of outside

factors also figure into choices, according to MarieKristin von der Heide, junior marketing manager,
Sternchemie. "There is continued interest in emulsifiers,"
she said. "The difference today is that the scope of interest is not solely on functionality but also on sustainable
and declaration-friendly solutions such as non-GMO,
allergen-free and organic."
The need to switch out of PHOs - a big change for
many baked foods - may prompt formulators to seek
such wide-ranging solutions when the occasion for a
more routine formula alteration would not. "It gives
the customer the opportunity to look at their portfolio
of ingredients," said Sheila Rice, NAFTA region product
manager for emulsifiers, DuPont Nutrition & Health.
"You could switch the sustainability and/or non-GMO
status of formulations at the same time you remove
PHOs. This is a synergistic effect of the ruling by FDA."

Formulators rely on
emulsifiers not only to
stabilize cake, donut and
pastry texture and softness but also to optimize
the crystal structure of
icings and glazes.
Corbion Caravan

Role of emulsifiers
Emulsifiers comprise a broad portfolio of materials.
They include lecithin, mono- and diglycerides (distilled,
acetylated and ethoxylated), diacetyl tartaric acid esters
of mono- and diglycerides (DATEM), monoglycerides
(lactylated and succinylated), sodium and calcium stearoyl lactylates, polyglycerol monesters, propylene glycol
monoesters and monostearates, sodium stearoyl fumarate, sorbitan esters and polysorbates, and sucrose esters.
They perform important functions. "While the reason

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