Milling & Baking News - August 2, 2016 - 23

Food Ingredient Solutions

NATIONAL HONEY BOARD

Consider honey for
a host of reasons
The natural sweetener may enhance whole
grain items and possibly qualify as non-G.M.O.

oney already has gained a natural perception among most
Americans. Now, food companies may consider tacking on other
promotional benefits when using it as a
sweetener in their products. Honey may
enhance the flavor of whole grain products, and it may qualify for such claims
as non-bioengineered/non-G.M.O. or
Fair Trade.
The U.S. grain-based foods industry
uses honey by the dozens of millions of
pounds each year. Research gathered by
the National Honey Board, Firestone,
Colo., and Technomic, Chicago, found
the ready-to-eat and hot cereal industry
used 17.8 million lbs of honey in 2015.
Bread and doughs accounted for another
15.3 million lbs of honey, and snack/nutrition/granola bars accounted for 10.3
million lbs. The categories trailed packaged cold beverages at 26 million lbs and
beer at 25.4 million lbs.
Honey has become an essential ingredient when formulating products
with whole grains, said Catherine Barry,
director of marketing for the National
Honey Board.
"It's why there are so many honey
whole wheat breads on the marketplace," she said. "Most consumers still
find whole grains and ancient grains
to have off-flavor profiles compared to
traditional, enriched flours. However,
with honey included in whole grain formulas, the sweetener smooths out any
off-flavors and creates an exceptional
flavor profile.
"From a functional standpoint, honey's use in the whole grain products
extends well beyond sweetening and
includes increasing the shelf life of bakery foods through the three main factors that help maintain crumb softness:
preventing moisture transfer, delaying
starch recrystallization and hydrolyzing starch. Liquid honey is hygroscopic
and enables products to maintain their
moisture content far longer than products that use dry sweeteners."
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Each honey varietal offers a unique
flavor profile.
"There are more than 300 different
types of honey in the United States alone,
all unique and dependent on the nectar source or flower where the bee foraged," Ms. Barry said. "This versatility
gives manufacturers the opportunity to
use honey not only for its functional and
sweetening benefits, but also to achieve a
very specific flavor and color profile."
Some darker, more robust varieties of
honey work well in whole grain products because the flavor provides a nice
balance to the earthy/nutty flavor of the
grains, said John Rzeszut, vice-president
of marketing for Natural American
Foods, Onsted, Mich.
Natural American Foods this year
enhanced its global sourcing capabilities by adding honey and agave that
is verified by the Non-GMO Project,
Bellingham, Wash.
"Consumers are becoming more interested in the origins and processing of
their food, and look for third-party certifications to validate the integrity of the
supply chain," Mr. Rzeszut said. "This
is a challenge for honey because honey
bees can fly up to several miles away
from the hive in search of nectar and
pollen from flowers. That's why Natural American Foods works with suppliers who have been verified by the NonGMO Project and have beehives located
in geographically remote areas."
Fair Trade Certified honey from Natural American Foods ensures that farmers
and beekeepers are paid a fair price. The
company sources the honey from the
Amhara region of Ethiopia.
"Natural American Foods is offering
a Fair Trade honey for several reasons,"
Mr. Rzeszut said. "First, it offers the ability to make a real impact on the lives of
beekeepers in rural Ethiopia. Second, it
allows consumers in the U.S. to experience the unique flavors of honey from
a different part of the world. Finally, it
tastes delicious. It's very dark in color,

with a robust flavor and floral notes. Our
Fair Trade honey would be a great addition to bakery products or savory recipes, where the flavor of the honey can
really come through instead of just being
used as a sweetener."
Natural American Foods offers many
honey varieties, including conventional
blends, monofloral varieties, certified
organic, Non-GMO Project verified and
Fair Trade Certified, he said.
93% say honey is natural
For natural qualifications, people
viewed honey as the most natural of
nine sweeteners in a 2015 consumer research survey from the National Honey
Board. The survey found 93% of respondents said they viewed honey as natural.
Honey led agave nectar and molasses,
which tied for second place at 68%.
The survey found 48% of people indicated they were at least somewhat willing to pay more for products sweetened
with honey. Fifty-nine per cent said they
were willing to pay more for bread with
honey, including 21% who said they
would pay 10% more, and 53% who said
they were willing to pay more for food
bars with honey.
Taking care of the honey makers has become more of an issue recently. Honey bee
colonies for operations with five or more
colonies totaled 2.59 million in the United
States on Jan. 1, which was down 8% from
2.82 million colonies on Jan. 1, 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The National Honey Board each year
commits 5% of its anticipated revenue to
fund research projects aimed at helping
beekeepers find solutions to challenges
like colony collapse disorder and external factors affecting honey bees and their
development, Ms. Barry said.
Natural American Foods serves
as a "Queen Bee" sponsor for an annual symposium on bee health held
at the University of California, Davis,
Mr. Rzeszut said. MBN
- Jeff Gelski
Milling & Baking News XAugust 2, 2016 / 23

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - August 2, 2016

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